The three of us
by Lakritzwolf
Summary: After their relationship has come to fruitition, Sandy, not so lone Wanderer and Flak and Shrapnel get it going. Contains lots of fluffy smut. Or smutty fluff. May contain traces of plot and background story. Part two of three.
1. The Morning After

**_A/N:_** _I simply couldn't stop writing these three, especially as another Flak and Shrapnel prompt appeared on the meme, only days after I finished "My heart is big enough for both of you". I couldn't resist, of course, and wrote a couple of little sexins. Apart from being great practise in writing sex scenes, especially with the dynamics of a threesome, I enjoyed the hell out of writing them, I might even have gotten some plot into them at one point or another. I hope you enjoy reading them.  
><em>

* * *

><p>Flak hated it to wake up because he had to piss. In fact, he had to piss like a racehorse, and still he felt very reluctant to leave that warm nest made of three naked bodies. Well... his wasn't completely naked, but he thought that without any regret. He slowly and extremely cautiously peeled himself away from the other two who were still asleep, recognising that annoying and familiar feeling of morning glory in his crotch region and thinking that this had little to do with it being morning and more with having woken up beside Sandy snuggled buck naked into his arm and that it didn't feel that glorious as he had to piss somewhat fiercely and Sandy was still asleep, so he couldn't do anything about it but tough it out.<br>Sleepily and bleary-eyed he left the cabin as silently as he could to tend to his physical needs. Behind him, one of the two shifted on the old, springy mattress.

As he came back, however, he could only shake his head with a mildly embarrassed feeling of disbelief as he observed the state their cabin was in.  
>The ashtray was spilling over, and the clothes and boots of three people were strewn absolutely haphazardly all over the place. It smelled of smoke, of the whiskey that had been emanating from the forgotten bottle that no one had bothered to put the top back on, and it smelled of three people having had one hell of a fun ride. Flak rubbed the back of his neck with a grin. Dammed he'd be if they hadn't enjoyed last night. He sat down, resting his arms on the back of the chair as he watched the others sleep.<p>

Only for a couple of moments, however, before Shrapnel slowly turned onto his back and blinked sleepily at the ceiling as beside him, Sandy rolled herself up into a ball with a hum. At the sound of this Shrapnel turned his head and stared with not a little disbelief at the head next to his shoulder. When he looked up again he noticed Flak sitting on the chair and grinned with a shrug. Sandy flopped onto her belly and buried her face into her forearms.

Shrapnel sat up and stretched his arms upward and back. "Jesus, I need a shower. I smell like a dead molerat."  
>"Not on my account", Sandy's voice came muffled from between her arms before she turned onto her back and smiled a little sleepily at him. "Morning, handsome."<br>Shrapnel twisted one corner of his mouth upward. "You'd rather I smell?"  
>"Yeah, 'cause you smell just like the big, male animal you are." She winked, and Shrapnel exchanged a glance with his friend who just produced a pack of smokes from a pocket. Tapping it, Flak took out a cigarette and, with a crooked smile, watched Shrapnel and Sandy bicker.<br>"Animal?"  
>"Yep. Just all muscles and testosterone." She ran a hand up his arm and pulled him close to kiss him. "Gorgeous." Then she looked over at Flak. "Goes for you, too, but since you chose to withdraw your precious self into that chair I can't give you a morning hug."<br>"I needed to piss", Flak replied as he flicked his lighter on.  
>"Say", Sandy said as she snuggled closer into Shrapnel who had not, quite visibly as he was still naked, been at all immune to that kiss. "Remembering last night, Flak, I get the impression, that you are a man who really likes to watch."<br>Having lit his smoke Flak just blew out a long, slow cloud and watched her with a mildly amused look on his face.

Sandy leaned closer to Shrapnel and ran a hand through his already tousled hair, making it stand on edge. With a smile, she smoothed it back: "Say", she purred. "Fancy giving your buddy a morning show, handsome?"  
>"Jesus", Shrapnel laughed shakily as he took her hand and placed a kiss into her palm. "I haven't even pissed yet. Give a man a break, Sandy."<br>"Unwillingly", Sandy gave back, but with a chuckle. "Suit yourself." As she got up, however, she looked back and forth between the two with a thoughtful frown. "I could've sworn that men like you would be like loaded guns, ready to shoot anytime. No offence meant."

"None taken." Shrapnel got up as well and combed through the heap of clothes for his boxers. "I take it rather as a compliment that you'd think me... or us... " Here he winked at Flak, "capable of being always able and ready."  
>"But you aren't?"<br>"Sandy", Flak fell in. "That works only if you don't take care of the girl. Besides, a gun's gotta be loaded with something. Shoot the load, and you gotta build up new ammo first." He smoked a while in thought. "I mean, two times, all right", he continued. "Three maybe, but that's about it. Any dickhead who tells you otherwise is giving you shit, Sandy."

Sandy stared back and forth at them with a frown. "I guess I still got a little bit to learn, haven't I."  
>Flak lifted his eyebrows.<br>"I mean..." After chewing her lips for a while, Sandy went on with a shrug. "It's not as if I've been sleeping my way through the Wasteland since I fell outta that Vault. I had a serious crush on a guy back home, but he..." Sandy broke off and pulled her shirt over her head. "He was a total asshole", she went on. "But what did I know back then. I was just sixteen and terribly in love."  
>Shrapnel looked as if he didn't quite want to know the answer to his question but had to ask despite himself. "And... in between?"<br>Sandy tilted her head. "In between? There was no in between. I just said I haven't been sleeping myself through the Wasteland."  
>"Not even a comfort fuck?", Shrapnel blurted out.<br>Sandy snorted. "And with whom? If it's one thing Wally did for me it's to teach me to recognise a bloke who doesn't give a shit for me but only wants my cunt."

Both men winced at that expression and exchanged a worried glance. Finally, Flak broke the silence after a very deep breath and a very large cloud.  
>"Sandy... don't tell me you've only had sex once in your life before... last night."<br>"And if I have?" Sandy crossed her arms. "What's the problem with you all of a sudden?" Her expression turned from sullen to almost panicked.  
>"Sandy." Having found his pants and just about to buckle his belt Shrapnel hurried to her side as Flak got up from his chair to do the same. They flanked her in unspoken agreement and wedged her in between them. Sandy immediately relaxed.<p>

"Sandy", Flak said as well. "There isn't a problem. We were just surprised, is all. I mean..." He broke off and glanced at his friend who took a deep breath.  
>"We just couldn't... I mean no one could honestly have thought that you..." He groped for words. "Could be... any way... inexperienced", he ended lamely.<br>"Because of the strip dance?" Sandy asked, looking back and forth between the two.  
>"Well it did look pretty professional", Flak ventured cautiously.<br>Sandy chuckled and dug a finger into his ribcage. "Why do you think I've been gone that long? I needed someplace to steam off, so I went back to Megaton. And then I remembered... the dress. And. Well. I discovered I didn't want to make a decision and..."  
>"And?"<br>She smiled helplessly. "I tried to find out if I could make this work... you know and I..."  
>"Wait a minute", Shrapnel fell in. "You rehearsed that?"<br>Sandy grinned. "I wanted it to be good, you know."

Flak exchanged a grin with Shrapnel. "Good." He shook his head. "Jesus Christ in a bottle, Sandy."  
>Sandy looked up at him with a tilted head.<br>"That was the best show I've ever had in my whole fucking life." He ran a hand through Sandy's hair with his grin softening into a smile. "Hot and sweet is what you are, Sandy. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He then pulled her close and kissed her, a hungry but gentle kiss. When he broke it, he just gently gave her cheek a nudge and without even opening her eyes Sandy turned her head towards Shrapnel. "We take everything else from there", he said just before their lips met.


	2. Feeling Alive

It was supposed to have been a short, simple trip to Megaton and back. Nothing more. Just because Sandy had finally found the courage to ask if she couldn't move in with them. To which Flak had replied if she seriously had been thinking about sleeping in the commons again. Sandy had laughed and replied she had thought she'd be as polite to ask first to which Shrapnel had replied that she didn't need admission from them for fucking nothing which in turn had led to Sandy to first grope for words and then for other things.

When they had dressed themselves again about an hour later she had said she needed to move some shit over from Megaton, already knowing and yet still pleased about the adamant reply that she wasn't going there alone.

They'd seen the vertibird too late and almost run heads on into an Enclave officer flanked by two soldiers. Those, to be honest, hadn't been that much of a problem, but just because Flak was the first to react and had cast a twin grenade before ducking away for cover. The fucking deathclaw, on the other hand, was what had them almost to shreds within seconds after the dying officer had pressed the release mechanism of its cage.  
>It had been a close shave. A fucking close shave. As the only thing that could stop a deathclaw in its charge was to sprint into its line of sight to distract it they had done just that repeatedly, one of them always dashing past it while it was homing in on its target while the other two fired. That, of course, had led to an amount of dangerous near-misses and them being repeatedly grazed by friendly fire. How they had done it, in the end, wasn't quite clear to them but somehow they managed to survive while the deathclaw didn't.<p>

And after withdrawing themselves into the ruined house for cover and Sandy administering stim packs on all three of them they now stood with their backs to the wall, covered in dust and drying blood and drenched in sweat. Flak and Shrapnel shared a silent smoke when Sandy suddenly said: "Oh hell, yeah."  
>The guys beside her gave her a look that was somewhere between mildly amused and slightly baffled.<br>"What, you liked that, Sandy?" Shrapnel asked after exchanging another look with his friend.  
>Sandy snorted. "No." But then she looked up, first at him, then at Flak. "But we are alive."<br>"We are", he replied while the look he exchanged with Flak turned into something more amused.  
>"And you know", Sandy went on without looking again at either of them, "You know, I've always... I don't know how to describe it..." She let her head drop back and closed her eyes. "It's like... having survived something like this, it makes me feel high... like flying on Jet, but better." After a moment she opened her eyes to look at her friends again. "You know what I mean?"<br>"Yeah", Shrapnel replied while Flak just nodded. "It's like realising how alive you can be after having almost died."  
>Sandy smiled. "I remember it was the same when..." And suddenly, her eyelids dropped a little. "Was the same when we came out of that Talon bunker."<br>A silence heavy with meaning answered her.  
>"Know what I mean."<br>"Yeah."  
>"Hm."<br>Another long silence.  
>Sandy drew a breath. "Wanna fuck?"<p>

Two choked snorts sounded out beside her.  
>"Which one of us?", Flak asked after a moment of rallying themselves.<br>"Don't care", Sandy said and without any further ado, unbuckled her belt and leaned onto a windowsill when her pants dropped. "Just gimme some serious dick."

Shrapnel and Flak exchanged another glance, this time disbelief mingled with amusement, and, to be honest, mild arousal. To hell if both of them didn't know exactly what Sandy was talking about, with feeling alive after a battle like that.  
>"Goddamnit! Aren't you out of those fucking pants yet?", Sandy snarled at them over her shoulder.<br>Shrapnel chuckled shakily as if he couldn't believe his ears. Flak, in turn, just checked the load of his SMG, cocked it and leaned back against the wall with the gun hefted in one hand and his smoke in the other.  
>"Have at her, buddy", he said. "I'll watch your back."<p> 


	3. I know what I need, show me what I want

Sandy discovered that she loved mornings. All of a sudden. She'd never been a morning person, hated waking up and starting the day for as long as she could remember, but now... now, the early morning had its own special charm when directly after waking up, in this mildly sleepy haze, the two men beside her were definitely at their softest. She felt their bodies, warm and comforting; she'd never been able to imagine you could actually go to sleep like that, not to mention spending a whole night like a pile of hamsters, but she awoke every morning like this and enjoyed every second of it.

She hadn't even opened her eyes, just assured herself that the two bodies were still in place wedged around her, when a hand ran through her hair, brushing stray strands of it out of her face. The face that now buried itself into her hair was Shrapnel's, as was the chest her back was snuggled in against. Her face was resting against Flak's, his scratchy cheek brushing hers when he placed a surprisingly tender kiss onto her temple.

Smiling sleepily she lifted her hand so it came to rest against his cheek, ran it up the side of his face towards his forehead and back over his head, caressing his hair, and came to rest at the back of his neck where she caressed and gently scratched his hairline. This elicited a deep and drawn-out rumble from Flak who nuzzled his face into the curve where her neck and shoulder met. Delighted by this unchecked sound of pleasure, especially because Flak so rarely dropped his guard like that, she continued doing this and enjoyed his sounds to the full when they vibrated against the skin of her neck.

"She found your soft spot, man?", Shrapnel asked after a few moments in a voice that still was a little husky from sleep.  
>Flak didn't answer at once, but when he did, his voice was low and muffled by Sandy's skin. "She'll get you too, buddy."<br>Sandy couldn't suppress a chuckle upon hearing this and Shrapnel behind her chuckled, too. "I sincerely hope so", he replied before burying his face into Sandy's hair again.

Revelling in their words Sandy closed her eyes again but without removing the hand on the back of Flak's neck. He in turn nuzzled closer and ran a hand up her flank where it came to rest on one of her breasts. When Sandy drew in a deep breath at this she felt Shrapnel's hand trace a way down, resting on her hips and moving cautiously forward until his fingers brushed her curls. Sandy's next intake of breath as a soft hiss, but before she could emit any more sounds Flak had claimed her lips with his. Both men moves closer in to her, and while Flak still kissed her Shrapnel placed small, soft bites down her shoulder while his hand traced small circles on her lower belly.  
>Sandy had to break away for air, this time however her breath was a soft moan; not that she was the only one of them breathing heavily right now. This was all new and exciting to all three of them.<p>

"Flak", she whispered. "Shrapnel." Guys I... I want to..."  
>"Hm?", Flak hummed softly against her cheek.<br>Shrapnel brushed her ear with his lips. "What is it, Sandy."  
>"I need you, now.", she finally forced out.<br>After a small moment of silence, Shrapnel asked softly: "Which one of us?"  
>"Both."<br>Flak and Shrapnel both chuckled softly at this.  
>"I want to... I wish I could..." Their hands were so warm on her skin, making it glow wherever they touched her, and she focussed on that sensation in the hopes it would help her sort out her mind. She had an idea what she wished for, but she seemed unable to speak it out aloud, helplessly groping for words. "I want... I wish I could...I wish I could... I mean..." She took a deep breath. "With both of you, I mean."<br>Shrapnel ran his hand through her hair again. "You want both of us."  
>"Both of you", Sandy said, her voice not really carrying. She had no clue why speaking this out aloud mortified her so. "Yes", she forced herself to say. "Yes, I need both of you. I wish I could have both of you at the same time."<br>Flak chuckled. "Greedy, aren't we."  
>Sandy felt a helpless smile spread on her face. "Maybe. I mean, you are just... so..." She broke off and swallowed heavily, not daring to open her eyes. "I want both of you", she finally said, her voice no more than a whisper.<p>

Both men beside her were silent for a while before Flak placed a hand on her cheek. "Sandy."  
>She forced herself to look at him and found the look he gave her hard to bear. Maybe it was because she was so embarrassed, all of a sudden. "Sandy, I don't wanna make this sound as if I think you're clueless, but do you know that there's ways to make this work?"<br>Sandy swallowed and felt, at that moment, Shrapnel's hand gently caressing one of her buttocks. When he cautiously drew his finger over the groove between them however, she involuntarily flinched and her whole body clenched for a second. Instantly the hand was gone and Shrapnel leaned forward and pressed his cheek against hers. "Ssh, Sandy. Sorry for startling you."  
>Swallowing again Sandy forced herself to reply, but could not keep her eyes open as she spoke. "No... it's all right. It's just..." She swallowed again. "I know that. But..." She took another deep breath. "It's just...I tried it before, and I hated it."<p>

Shrapnel's hand was still in her hair and Flak's still on her cheek, the thumb caressing her cheekbone.  
>"I... we... Wally I mean... he did a lot of things I didn't particularly like. We were together a couple of times, but I never found it particular enjoyable, although I knew that somehow there had to be something about this all, or else mankind would've died out long since." She made a brave attempt at smiling, but failed. "And Wally kept saying that if I really loved him then I'd like it, and so I kept my mouth shut because I thought that way I could keep him... stupid kid that I was." She took another deep breath; it was easier now that she had made a start. "When he dumped me and I later tried a few things again it was better, a lot, but this... well, Wally did this, too, but I hated it. I didn't particularly like a lot of things, but this... I hated it, and it hurt."<br>After a very long and heavy silence, Flak finally found his voice again. "Jesus, Sandy... are you aware that this asshole practically raped you?"  
>Snorting softly under her breath Sandy smiled sadly at him. "I guess you could call it that."<br>"That jerkoff can be glad he's snug 'n' safe behind that fucking vault door", Shrapnel said, his voice so deep it was almost a growl. "If I ever get my hands on him I'll rip his fucking balls out. Through his nose."  
>"I'll hold him down for you, buddy", Flak replied solemnly without taking his eyes off Sandy. "Don't worry", he said to her after a moment. "We'll just not mention it again."<p>

Sandy closed her eyes and sighed, focussing for the moment on the body at her back, the body at her front, and the hands that were resting on her skin, warm, firm, and yet so gentle. She knew well what these hands, what these men were capable of; she had been in some serious fighting at their sides, she knew that they both had their share of darkness in their pasts, had blood on their hands in more than one way. And still, it didn't matter. For the life of her she couldn't imagine these hands ever doing her harm. Still, she had to summon a lot of strength before she could speak again, and her voice betrayed her inner conflict. "But..." She nervously licked her lips. "But you... you guys would never hurt me."  
>"Never", they replied almost simultaneously, and the heartfelt way these words were spoken in made Sandy smile for a second.<br>"Guys..." She whispered then. "I know... I know what I need. But I... I don't know... you gotta show me. You gotta show me what I want."  
>A small and pregnant pause followed her words. Finally Flak dared to speak again after exchanging a look with his friend.<br>"Sandy." He almost whispered himself. "You sure about this?"  
>"If I say no you'll stop", Sandy replied. "Don't you." It didn't sound like a question.<br>"At once", Shrapnel whispered into her ear. "Say no. Don't worry, Sandy."

Their movements were a little hesitating at first when the two men beside her began their caressing again, running their hands across her body, reluctant and yet baffled in her trust in them.  
>First when her breathing had picked up again did Shrapnel repeat his cautious venture, tentatively drawing his finger across the crease between her buttocks before sliding it in between them, moving slowly to give her time to get accustomed to the sensation. It was more than a little agonizing to move that slow, to be that careful, but dammed he'd be if he did that wrong. The thought of hurting her and betraying that trust she put into them both mortified him.<p>

"Relax", he whispered into her ear. "Relax, Sandy baby. We'll take care of you."  
>As a reply Sandy just smiled, the tiniest bit frightened, but still with so much trust and love in her eyes that the both of them found it hard to bear. This was completely new to both of them.<br>Flak then kissed her, running a hand down her side and up to her breast as he did so. When Sandy after a few moments of being caressed began to moan softly against his lips, Shrapnel dared to move again and gently slid his hand between her legs, drawing a cautious finger across her folds. He had expected her to still be unready and closed because she was afraid, but while she might be the latter, she definitely wasn't the first. His dick ached when he caressed that moist and silky spot, but he would goddamn have to wait.

Whispering her name into Sandy's ear Shrapnel drew his finger slowly back, spreading the moistness and coming to halt when he encountered his goal. She drew a sharp breath but didn't flinch.  
>"Easy, Sandy", he whispered into her ear. "Sandy, baby."<br>Flak moved his hand from her breast downward and slid his fingers between her legs, eliciting a deep moan from her after a few moments of caressing, and upon hearing this, Shrapnel slowly eased his moist finger into her. She gasped against Flak's lips, but didn't draw herself away.  
>While Flak now kissed and caressed her, Shrapnel repeated his moves and this time inserted two fingers, slowly, and cautiously. Sandy moaned, and moved her hips against him. It was almost torture for him to slide his dick between her legs but not enter her, just brushing against her moistness, back and forth, two times, three; and her moan sounded almost frustrated when he withdrew himself and moved back.<br>He had to grit his teeth and summon all his strength of will to enter her slowly, ever so slowly, agonizingly slowly, just to be careful not to hurt her, and to give her time to tell him no. Her moans turned into high-pitched gasps when she broke away from Flak's kiss and pressed her head into Shrapnel's shoulder.  
>"Ssh." Shrapnel pressed his lips against her temple that was already moist with sweat. "Ssh, Sandy baby. Sandy. Darling. It's all right. Ssh."<br>She was gasping for air in heavy, hitched breaths, her eyes firmly closed.  
>"You hurt?",Shrapnel asked, his own breathing ragged. Sandy mutely shook her head and he pressed another kiss on the side of her neck before he moved further in, her breathing hitching more and more as he did so. And when he had finally sheathed himself, he dared hardly move again because she was pressed so rigidly against him that she seemed made of wood. "Relax", he rasped. "Sandy, you gotta breathe, baby."<p>

Flak had not moved his hands out from between her legs but when he now looked at his friend for confirmation, his face slightly moist as well now, and saw that Shrapnel nodded with his face a grim set mask of self control, he moved closer to Sandy and nudged her leg a little more upward. She gasped again, high pitched and almost a squeal, but she didn't tell him no. "Relax", he whispered as well when he cautiously entered her, going very slow until he, too, had sheathed his dick inside her while breathing heavily. Both of them didn't move for a moment longer, and Sandy in between them didn't move at all. She had her eyes squeezed shut and to both Flak's and Shrapnel's utter dismay, two tears escaped from the corners of these eyes and trickled down her cheeks.  
>"Sandy", Flak whispered, pressing his hand onto her cheek. "Sandy, are we hurting you?"<br>Chewing her lower lip Sandy shook her head while attempting to smile. "No", she whispered, her voice ragged and hoarse. "Oh god, no... no, you don't hurt me... but this is... oh god..." She gasped again for air and bit her lip, but Flak claimed her lips again in a kiss that she returned ferociously.

When the two men cautiously began to move, however, Sandy slowly stiffened, her head pressed so hard into Shrapnel's shoulder that it hurt him. She hardly breathed anymore, too, only single, despairing gasps now and then after breaks that seemed far too long to be healthy.

To be honest, both Flak and Shrapnel themselves had trouble dealing with the sensations as they could not only feel the tight hotness of Sandy enveloping them but also could they feel each other move, separated only by a finger's breadth of Sandy's flesh. Thinking that after being best mates for so long and living together in so close quarters they'd be as intimate with each other as friends could be, they now discovered that sharing a girl, especially sharing her this particular way, brought them into closer, more intimate proximity than they ever would have thought possible. It was in a disturbing way oddly arousing and both of them couldn't bring themselves to look at each other.

They had not been moving inside her for a couple of minutes, however, before Sandy stiffened even more and, with a force that took them aback, her belly clenched and clamped down on them. But the scream they prepared themselves for did not come. Instead, Sandy was rigidly arching her back, and only after a few seconds gasped for air in a high pitched wail only to hold her breath again for several seconds more. Another of those tortured squeals escaped her, still rigid, and even as both of them thought she'd be bursting with pain at the seams she drew a third breath and screamed; long, drawn out and utterly, utterly deep, far too deep for them to recognise it as her normal voice. Tears were streaming down her face and she sobbed as she sagged back again.

Both men exchanged an almost terrified look.  
>"Sandy", Shrapnel whispered while running a hand through her hair. "Sandy, baby."<br>Flak gently took her face in his hands. "Sandy. Darling, what have we done to you?"  
>Shrapnel's voice was close to horrified. "Jesus, buddy, we've fucked her unconscious."<br>She finally opened her eyes, glassy and red-rimmed, the pupils dilated widely. "Oh god", was the only thing she said, in a ragged, hoarse whisper, before her eyes flattered shut.  
>They held her, cautious not to move inside her again, as agonizing as it was. More time passed with Sandy's sobbing gasps the only sound before she opened her eyes again.<br>"Sandy?", Flak ventured cautiously.  
>She swivelled her eyes towards him with a smile that made his heart clench. "Flak."<br>"Sandy?" Shrapnel leaned forward a little and she slowly turned her head, laboriously as if it weighed two tons.  
>"Shrapnel." Her voice was low and husky. "I love you, guys."<br>Flak and Shrapnel exchanged another look.  
>"You're not... hurt?" Shrapnel asked hesitatingly.<br>She shook her head. "Never." Then a smile spread on her face, a smile so sweet, so tender and so utterly happy and satisfied that both men felt relief wash over them that was palpable. "But I think I won't survive another one of those."

Shaking his head and with a little, embarrassed chuckle, Flak was the first to move and cautiously withdrew himself from her. Sandy emitted a small whimper but immediately slung her arms around him to pull him close.  
>Shrapnel shook his head as well and pecked a kiss onto Sandy's shoulder before he carefully and with gritted teeth inched himself out as well while Sandy's breath turned into small hisses and a gasp when he finally left her.<br>"Hurt?"  
>She shook her head.<br>He, too slung his arms around Sandy so the two of them wedged her in between them as tightly as they could.

"I love you", Sandy whispered again. "And I don't love both of you." She took a deep breath. "I love each of you."  
>For a few heartbeats, Flak and Shrapnel were speechless when they figured the meaning of these words. "Amazing, considering we just almost killed you", Shrapnel finally replied with a tiny smile.<br>Sandy chuckled under her breath and shook her head. "You've got no idea how... I think... I've never been so alive before. So complete. With you. You two."  
>"Is that so." With a capitulating smile Flak shook his head and Sandy laid a hand on his cheek and looked at him. A stare so intense and at the same time filled with emotion that he surrendered. "I love you, Sandy. It's impossible not to."<br>They shared a passionate kiss after this before Sandy twisted around so she faced Shrapnel who blinked a few times before he too shook his head and placed a hand on Sandy's cheek. "Yeah, I love you, Sandy. And here I thought I was too much of a tough old bastard for that kind of shit."  
>Sandy chuckled as she ran a hand through his hair, then she kissed him too.<p>

She turned onto her back after that kiss and pulled both of them close so she had a head resting on each shoulder, running a hand through soft, short stubble on one side and outgrown, shaggy hair on the other while both men tucked her arms around her.  
>"Don't ever let go", Sandy whispered, her voice holding a smile.<br>"Never", Flak replied and Shrapnel added "Never in a million years."


	4. Taste of Love

After months of sleeping close to Sandy both Flak and Shrapnel awoke instantly when she suddenly began to toss her head and moan in her sleep. Flak sat up and blinked down at her while Shrapnel took Sandy's shoulders. "Sandy?" She was breathing heavily, her teeth bared. "Sandy, baby, wake up." He gently shook her. "Baby, wake up. You're dreaming."  
>Sandy muttered something that was unintelligible and gasped for air. Shrapnel shook her harder. "Sandy!"<br>With a sob that was almost a wail Sandy suddenly shot upright, her eyes so wide that they were almost completely white. "No...", she rasped. "Oh god..."  
>"Sandy." Shrapnel leaned forward to be able to look at her. "Baby, you were having a nightmare." Yet as she turned her head to look at him he was dismayed to see her eyes spill over with tears.<br>"They shot him", she rasped. "They killed him!"  
>"Who?"<br>"Flak", she sobbed. "They killed him!"  
>Shrapnel exchanged a puzzled glance with his friend.<br>"Sandy", Flak said cautiously. "No one killed me."  
>Her head shot around and she stared at Flak, still wide-eyed, still shedding tears. After a second, however, she threw herself at him with another sob and clung to him like a drowning man to a piece of wood.<br>"Easy, Sandy." Flak blinked a few times, completely at a loss. "Darling, it was only a dream."  
>"They killed you", she whispered against the skin of his shoulder. "They shot you, and I could do nothing, and Shrapnel could do nothing, and Preston came too late, and there was so much blood..." She sobbed again. "So much blood..."<p>

The two friends exchanged another look of dismay. Bad enough that she would have a dream like that, but her mind, being as she had been in her share of fights, didn't have to rely on any kind of imagination to produce all too realistic images of carnage and death. Thinking about it, Flak could indeed remember that after a couple of particular nasty dreams of his own, he had been able to smell blood even after waking up.  
>"It's all right, Sandy", Flak muttered and closed his arms around her. "It was only a dream. Sandy, darling, stop crying. I'm alive. It was only a dream." He ran a hand up her back and buried it into her hair. After a few moments more, Sandy finally stopped sobbing and took a deep breath while rubbing her face against his neck. "There, that's better."<br>Shrapnel ran both hands through his hair and looked at Flak again who shrugged.  
>"I could smell blood and guts", Sandy whispered shakily. "And the gunpowder and..."<br>"Stop it, Sandy", Flak replied as gently as he could. "It was only a dream." He leaned forward and carefully placed her back down onto the mattress again, but she slung her arms around his neck, pulled his head down and kissed him desperately. Returning that kiss Flak placed his hands on both her cheeks when he felt her wriggle under him. He slowly moved his lips away from her, across her cheek towards her ear. "Sandy", he whispered in a low rumble. "Sandy, darling."  
>"Flak", she whispered breathlessly, urgency in her voice. "Make love to me, please. Now."<br>Flak blinked again and then looked up at his friend.  
>"It's you she saw die, buddy", Shrapnel said in a low voice, a faint smile on his lips. "It's you she needs now."<p>

With a sound that was almost a whimper Sandy slung her arms around Flak's neck again to pull him closer, and when he kissed her again he realised she was still trembling. Deciding that she would need her relief first, he then moved his lips to her neck and kissed the soft skin in the hollow of her throat from where he moved lower to her left breast. Her desperate whimpering turned into something less desperate and more lustful when he closed his lips around the nipple and flicked it with his tongue. Without stopping what he was doing Flak smiled against her skin when he felt her hand rest on the back of his head.

Shrapnel was watching this with a mixture of arousal and curiosity. Personally, he himself would have thought that if someone with a moustache as impressive as Flak's would kiss you in sensitive spots like that it would tickle the hell out of you, but Sandy, while being awfully ticklish (they had tried that out to their own delight and hilarity and stopped only when Sandy had been in tears and threatened them with emasculation), she didn't seem to mind now. In actual fact, she seemed only to be turned on by that sensation.

And turned on he was, as well. It was that moment, when Shrapnel was lying there watching his friend shift his attention to Sandy's other breast, that he began to understand why Flak enjoyed watching so much. It was hot, seeing Sandy's face flush, see her part her lips and moisten them with her tongue; it was even hotter watching this as a reaction of what Flak was doing to her. He had been of the opinion that just watching people make love would lead to more frustration than anything else, but he was wrong... this was anything but. His own arousal was a kind of pleasurable pain, unrelieved, but with a promise hanging in the air that if he just wanted, she would be there for him too – and this suspense was a strange but exciting pleasure.  
>Now sporting a full hard-on he watched, his breath going slightly faster, as Flak trailed a line of kisses down her belly and around her navel with Sandy's hands resting on the back of his head.<p>

Shrapnel found his dick ache in anticipation when Flak shifted his position and kneeled between her legs, but even more so when, instead of sheathing himself, he began to place small kisses on the inner side of her thigh. Sandy herself lifted her head and stared at Flak as his head wandered down her thigh and clenched shortly before he reached her curls. Flak stopped what he was doing and looked up at her, his right arm round her leg, the other one resting on her hip. He leaned his head against her thigh and glanced at her questioningly, but Sandy looked uncomfortable and chewed her lips.

"What are you doing?", she finally asked, still chewing her lower lip.  
>"Returning a favour?" Flak raised his eyebrows with a smile but it still took a few moments before Sandy managed to answer and all but blurted it out.<br>"You don't have to do this." She avoided his eyes with an embarrassed scowl.  
>Snorting softly under his breath Flak rolled his eyes but didn't move his head away. "What. Did that Vault asshole ruin that for you, too?"<br>"No." She didn't look at him. "It's just... I mean... of course we talked about all sorts of stuff in biology and anatomy lessons but... I mean, we... that is, Suzie and Amata and me, we overheard the boys talk with Mr Brotch and how disgusting it was and that... it... it... would be all over your face and..." She swallowed with burning cheeks. "And the smell..." She broke off, obviously unable to continue.

Flak and Shrapnel exchanged another glance, this time of weary exasperation. For a moment they were both at a loss over how seriously the Vault seemed to have fucked her up in some aspects; completely mystified at how the fuck the population had managed to survive in the first place. It wasn't the first time they had stumbled about something like this.

"Sandy", Flak said. "Seriously... how the fuck can these Vault assholes tell you poor kids that you'd have to... procreate...", he all but spat out that last word, "...when they make sure that you'll have none of the fun?"  
>Sandy opened her mouth but failed to answer, especially since the sensation of the stubble of Flak's four millimetre cut rubbing the inside of her thigh seriously deteriorated her ability to think at all.<br>"Seriously", Shrapnel fell now in as he shuffled closer and put an arm around her to rest her head on his shoulder. "Stop thinking about that shit. Besides..." He lowered his head and nuzzled her ear. "You smell fantastic, so don't you worry."  
>"But..." Her eyes fluttered shut when Shrapnel nibbled her earlobe. "But... I mean... you really don't have to..."<br>Flak snorted again. "And what if I want to?"  
>Sandy's head flew up and she stared at him. "But..."<p>

Lowering his eyelids, Flak placed another kiss on her thigh and looked at her again. "Sandy." His voice was pitched so low that it vibrated against her skin. "You think it was disgusting having my dick in your mouth?" He moved his head a little lower and placed the next kiss onto her skin. Sandy was unable to answer when she felt his breath brush her curls and mutely shook her head.  
>"There." He chuckled softly and moved over to the other thigh, trailing a few kisses down there as well, this time even a little lower so he brushed her curls with his cheek. "Why don't you forget about those Vault assholes." He placed a kiss onto the hairline on her belly. "Why don't you just let me show you." He slowly lowered his head further down so it hovered between her legs and looked up at her again. She was pressing her head against Shrapnel's shoulders but stared down at him with parted lips and flushed cheeks.<br>"Just tell me no", Flak whispered before he lowered his head a little more and placed a kiss on the spot where her folds met. Sandy gasped and closed her eyes, but even as she wanted to give her verbal consent she felt his tongue slip into the opening and all words, all thoughts and all resistance crumbled to dust and vanished. Through a dizzy haze she suddenly heard Shrapnel's voice whisper: "Sandy, baby, you gotta breathe." He chuckled softly under his breath and placed a kiss onto her temple.

She tried to breathe, but it came out as a wailing moan. The sensation of what Flak's lips and tongue were doing to her was indescribable, simply because no words to describe this existed. Her wails turned into unchecked, lustful screams when Flak used his fingers to spread her wide open for better access and suckled the little pearl that suddenly became the centre of her whole awareness, of her whole being. She screamed his name and tried to bury her fingers into his hair, but its shortness resulted in her digging her fingernails into his scalp. This elicited a low, growling rumble from Flak who looked up at her, breathing heavily himself.

"Still think it's disgusting?"  
>Sandy wailed when the sensation was suddenly gone but was unable to even lift her head. "...no..."<br>He chuckled. "Want me to go on?"  
>"...yes..."<br>"I thought so." He chuckled again and exchanged a glance with Shrapnel who was by now so aroused that he, too, was breathing hard.  
>"How does she taste, buddy?"<br>"You wouldn't believe it." Flak grinned crookedly at him and shook his head. "She's sweet, man. She's incredibly sweet."

Shrapnel watched like hypnotised, his lips parted and his breathing ragged, when Flak took one of Sandy's hands and brought it down between her legs. Sandy opened her eyes in turn, the pupils dilated with arousal, and let Flak dip two of her fingers inside her. Her eyelids grew heavy when she slowly lifted her hand again and looked at her moist fingers.  
>"Come on, Sandy, darling", Flak whispered hoarsely. "Let him taste you."<br>Sandy managed to turn her head towards Shrapnel and slowly, a little hesitatingly extended her hand to him. But overcome with lust Shrapnel reached for her hand and took it, inhaling deeply before running a greedy tongue up and down the two moist fingers with a deep, throaty moan. Sandy gasped at the sight of this, but then Flak lowered his head again, slipped his tongue as deeply inside her as he could and with a drawn out wail Sandy let her head drop back again, giving in to the sensation of a tongue caressing her fingers and another one caressing and exploring her most sensitive and secret spot.

Shrapnel released her fingers with a sigh. "You're hot and sweet everywhere, Sandy", he whispered raggedly and bend over her to kiss one of her nipples. "Everywhere."  
>When his fingers closed around her other breast, massaging and caressing the nipple, Sandy's world went strangely black. Her vision failed, and her complete awareness was reduced to the sensation between her legs and in her nipples. Dimly she was aware of her own screams, wondering how it was that she was able to make those kinds of sounds.<p>

Her arousal turned into a kind of glowing heat, as if all the blood in her veins suddenly was replaced with liquefied gold and a few seconds later her body finally reached its peak and clenched; and in a scream that burned in her throat the heat turned into a white-hot flame that seemed to consume both her soul and body for a couple of heartbeats.

When, a few moments later, her senses began to return, she realised that Flak was kneeling between her legs and nudging them a little further apart. With a deep sigh she opened them wide for him, heard him chuckle and then felt him place his hand on either side of her shoulder as he slowly entered her. Sandy was still too beat to do more but sigh deeply as he moved inside her, and Flak himself was too randy to make it last more than a couple of minutes. He spent himself with a few deep, ragged moans before collapsing down onto her where he buried his face in her shoulder.  
>"Sorry darling", he whispered against her skin. "Sorry for not making this longer."<br>Sandy turned her head to place a kiss into his stubble. "Don't worry. It was just as perfect as everything else." She stretched lazily under him and he moved slowly out of her with a sigh. "Besides...", she went on a hint of mischievous amusement in her voice, "...that's what I keep two of you around for."  
>His shoulders shook with a chuckle she couldn't hear before he lifted his head and looked at her. She smiled dreamily back at him, eyes half closed, and pulled his head closer to kiss him. She still could smell herself on him, but all of a sudden, could find nothing wrong with this anymore.<p>

Flak slowly rolled off her and looked at his friend who was staring at both of them with his lips still parted and his chest heaving with heavy breaths.  
>"You heard her, buddy", Flak said as he moved a little away from her with an amused twist around his mouth.<br>Not needing a second invitation Shrapnel leaned over Sandy to kiss her, sheathing himself as she slung her arms around him. Sandy softly sighed his name when he began to move, and kissing her lips and cheeks before biting her neck Shrapnel let himself go, making her moan and squirm under him until he, too, spent himself into her with a few, deep thrusts and a deep and heavy groan.

When somewhat later, Sandy had caught back her breath and, lying on her back, was caressing the two heads resting on either of her shoulders, she stared thoughtfully at the ceiling.  
>"You know", she said. "Sometimes I think my dad would turn in his grave if he knew I'd have the spunk of two men running down my legs getting up in the mornings." She chuckled a little sadly.<br>"Considering your dad thought it best for you to be locked up in that steel maze, alone and without real air or sunlight for your whole lifetime, I'm not sure I'd be his business even if he was still alive", Shrapnel gave back.  
>"Yeah", Sandy replied with a frown. "I know. He thought I'd be safe. I think he was so distraught by my mother's death that he only thought I had to be kept safe so she wouldn't have died in vain, no matter that I never could be happy down there. I mean... no one was. Not even those who believed they were... humans cannot be happy locked up all their lives. He must have known that."<br>Neither of the two men knew what to answer to that. After a while, Sandy shrugged and closed her eyes. "Maybe he just wanted me out of the way, do his duty in mother's memory and get on with it. Maybe he's never forgiven me for being the cause of her death."

Both Flak and Shrapnel lifted her heads and looked at her, but Sandy still had her eyes closed.  
>"Sandy", Flak finally asked. "How did your mother die?"<br>"I never told you?", she replied without opening her eyes. "She died giving birth to me."  
>A heavy silence followed her last words, with Flak and Shrapnel staring at each other with a helpless frown.<br>"Maybe he wanted only for me to be safe, just like he said, sacrificing all possibilities of life, of happiness, of luck, of sadness and of pain for safety. I mean, with the breeding programme and the meagre choice of mates my age the risk of me sharing his sad fate of tragic love would be very small."  
>"Wait a minute", Flak fell in. "Breeding programme?"<p>

Finally, Sandy opened her eyes. "To avoid inbreeding and genetic degradation. It's a computer generated and monitored programme that chooses suitable mates for generations onward, from the first generations who entered the Vault onward until today."  
>"This is disgusting", Shrapnel said with a shaky voice. "You didn't even have the choice whom to fuck with?"<br>"Officially not", Sandy replied with a small but unhappy smirk. "Of course, teenagers will find their own spots of privacy... but then, with all the observation cameras, the overseer's probably seen it all."  
>"Obser..." Flak and Shrapnel exchanged a horrified glance. "Cameras?"<br>Sandy shrugged again.  
>"Jesus." Flak shook his head. "Sandy, I'm really surprised you're not totally screaming and raving mad."<br>Sandy smiled a crooked little smile. "Who says I'm not?"  
>"What?" Shrapnel lifted his head and Sandy grinned, but it was neither crazed nor mad.<br>"I mean..." The grin softened into a smile. "I mean, here I am, fucked sore by two big, hairy, bad-ass wasteland mercs, and thinking I've never been so happy in my whole life."  
>"Hairy?" Shrapnel looked down his chest and belly; he had never thought of himself as particularly hairy, and neither was Flak, he thought.<br>Letting her head fall back with a giggle Sandy replied. "If you knew what practises of personal hygiene were encouraged in the Vault..."  
>Flak couldn't help but stare at his crotch; then he stared at Shrapnel who had done the same and the two exchanged a stare filled with blank horror before looking at Sandy again who shrugged. "Keeping short hairstyles, waxing off body hair, and with the men also circumcisions."<p>

Shrapnel involuntarily emitted a low gagging snort before falling down onto the mattress again.  
>Flak himself lowered himself down as well. "Holy fuck... Sandy, it's your fault if I'm the one now having nightmares after that."<br>"I didn't make this shit up", Sandy snapped. "I guess if you've got so many people living together in an enclosed space like that you have to rule out as many sources of contagion as you can. You think it was fun having the hairs around my honey pot waxed off?"  
>Both men winced.<br>A long and somewhat uneasy silence followed Sandy's last words. Finally she sighed again and placed her hands on both Flak's and Shrapnel's head again. "Sorry guys. The longer I'm out of it, the more thinking about the Vault throws me into a rage."  
>"Understandably", Flak said gently and snuggled a little closer to her.<br>Shrapnel on her other side did the same. "Try to look at it this way", he said after a moment. "Without you being thrown out of the Vault... I mean, if you had been born out here in the Wasteland somewhere, we probably never would've met."  
>Sandy gave this some thought. "You know... I'm not so sure about it. I mean, they were working on the project, my parents. In the purifier, right around the corner. I would have grown up a member of their team and been in Rivet City quite often, most likely." Then she smiled. "But with me being a scientist with my head in the radioactive clouds of Project Purity I probably never would have looked at you two bad-ass wasteland mercs."<br>After another long pause Flak finally dared to speak again in a low voice. "It seems things have turned out not so bad, after all."  
>Sandy looked at him, then at Shrapnel. "Believe me", she said, her voice suddenly soft again. "There's nowhere I'd rather be than right here, right now."<p> 


	5. What I have in you

It was the first time in months when they went to the Rudder that night with Sandy in tow, as for some reason, lately they had had other things to think off after closing down their stall than getting wasted and falling into bed right afterwards. When they had settled down at their usual table in the corner Shrapnel poured three shots of vodka from the bottle he had bought and handed the glasses out. Sandy took hers with a brave smile.  
>Flak noticed that expression and gave her a questioning look.<br>Sandy shrugged. "I must confess I'm not much of a drinker. Especially not the heavy stuff."  
>"You'd rather have a beer?", Shrapnel asked her and was already about to get up, but she shook her head.<br>"Nah, it's all right. Cheers." She took a sip and forced the stinging, burning liquid down her throat, watching Flak and Shrapnel knock their glassed back without moving a muscle in their faces. "I think I'd rather have a beer", she said then after trying not to cough too hard.  
>With a small grin on his face Shrapnel fetched her one and Sandy took it with a grateful, lightly embarrassed smile.<p>

"Just don't try to keep up with guys like us", Flak said after refilling his glass. "Not when you're not into the heavy stuff."  
>Sandy held on to her bottle. "I don't feel inclined to. I'm an awful klutz when I'm drunk."<br>"I was wondering if you had alcohol in the Vault at all", Shrapnel said while refilling his own glass. "I guess it doesn't compare to the distilled piss out here in the Wasteland."  
>Lifting her bottle with a mildly embarrassed grin, Sandy shrugged again. "Legal drinking age in the Vault is twenty-one. I was nineteen when they kicked me out."<br>Both men stopped in mid-move; Shrapnel while he was placing the bottle down and Flak while he was lifting his glass.  
>"What?" Sandy looked back and forth between the two.<br>"Nothing." Flak took a sip of his drink. "Whatever you tell us about the Vault never fails to fucking freak me out."

Sandy opened her mouth to reply when behind her, someone stepped towards their table with a dirty chuckle.  
>"Well lookie here", Sister said in his slimy voice. "Haven't seen you two in ages." He then looked down at Sandy, as he was standing directly behind her. "Got yourself a little pet cunt, I see."<br>Flak and Shrapnel exchanged a hunted look for a second. They were both unarmed and both of them knew what kind of a man Sister was. If he thought Sandy was a whore that he also could have then nothing short of killing him would stop him from trying.  
>But before they could think of something to reply however Sandy shot out of her chair and faced Sister with her arms crossed. "Get lost, asshole. And if you think that if I take two, I'll take everyone, then you're wrong. Fuck off."<br>"Oh come on, baby", Sister snickered. "I mean, seriously. When you have to use those two guys all that time, isn't it obvious that what you need is not more men but a single good one?"  
>Sandy narrowed her eyes. "And I guess you know exactly who that perfect match is going to be?"<br>"Give it a try, baby", Sister said in what he obviously thought was a sexy voice.  
>Sandy in turn curled her upper lip in distaste, but then narrowed her eyes even more while her expression turned very thoughtful. "Indeed."<br>Sister waggled his eyebrows, thumbs hooked into his belt.

Flak and Shrapnel watched this with cautious amusement, interested to see how Sandy would handle the situation. The girl had balls, you had to hand her that, to stand up to a bastard like Sister that way and yet they remained on their toes, ready to intervene before she could get into real trouble. None of the two could stomach the thought of Sandy receiving a beating that was intended for them, and neither could they stomach the thought of Sister groping any part of her body.

"So." Sandy walked around Sister, and his facial expression changed from smug superiority to puzzlement. "You think you got what it takes."  
>"I don't think that, sweetheart. I know it."<br>Sandy chuckled. "Okaay." Then she crossed her arms. "Prove it."

Flak almost choked on his drink and Shrapnel firmly dragged a hand down his chin a couple of times.

"What?" Sister dropped his arms.  
>"You heard me, pal. Think I need some serious dick, don't you?"<br>"Now sweety..."  
>"Don't sweety me, dude. You think you got the dick I need, prove it. I wanna know beforehand if you're worth the trouble of taking you along. Think I'll need a rabbit after having been at it with two stallions?"<br>Behind Sister, a couple of men had begun to grin, a few were even shamelessly chuckling in gleeful amusement.  
>"Come on, Sister!", Brotch called out from behind the bar. "Show her the goods, man!"<br>Trying to keep his head above the water, Sister hooked his thumbs into his belt again. "You show me the goods first, sweety."  
>"Oh like that, is it?", Sandy snapped. "You gonna show me your goods if I show you mine?"<br>Sister grinned a nasty little grin.  
>"Okay." Sandy flashed him a sweet, impish smile, gripped the hem of her top and tore it up, then jiggled her bare breasts at him once before pulling the top back down again and crossing her arms. "Your turn."<p>

Behind her, Flak and Shrapnel both had shot out their chairs, poised and ready to launch themselves at anyone who so much as dared to give Sandy a funny look; behind Sister, a couple of men swallowed with empty stares and blinked, and another few hastily buried their noses into their drinks. For a few seconds it was so silent in the Rudder that a fart would have sounded like a nuclear explosion.

Brotch was the first to rally himself. "Are you a man of your word, Sister? Go on, your turn!"  
>Trinnie broke out into a screeching cackle and almost fell off her chair; that sound broke the ice and a lot of the men in the Rudder began to snigger and chuckle again.<br>"Come on", Sandy flicked her hand at Sister, using the gesture of a boy daring another one to cross the line drawn between them into the dirt. "I haven't got all day. Pants down."  
>"You rotten little cunt", Sister snapped. "I swear you'll pay for that."<br>"What? You'd rather pull up your top? Is that why they call you 'Sister'?"

The whole place erupted in dirty laughter and Sister's face turned a very dangerous shade of purple. "Stinking harlot", he snarled and threw a punch at Sandy, but Sandy in turn had been waiting for this and managed to duck under the blow. Using that position to her advantage, as she had no intention to even attempt to fight fairly, she rammed her fist into his crotch. Sister doubled over with a sound that was half painful wail, half choking gasp. A couple of men winced.  
>"I seem to have hit something", Sandy snarled, slightly out of breath. "Hard to find, though."<br>Sister straightened up again and stared at her for a second out of blood-thirsty, murderous eyes. "Ugly, rotting slut." Fury and pain obviously gave him a boost, the next blow he threw at Sandy hit home and Sandy stumbled backward with a muffled groan, saved from falling flat onto her arse only by Flak's arms.

Not taking a second to check on her Shrapnel hurled himself at Sister now, clipping his jaw in a vicious right hook that send him sprawling backward over a table, knocking it over and spilling bottles and glasses everywhere in a shower of beer, vodka and shards of glass.  
>"My drink! You bloody motherfucker!" One of the men sitting at said table took one of the undamaged bottles and threw it at Shrapnel who saw the projectile coming and ducked. It sailed over his head and hit Ted Strayer who fell out of his chair with a high-pitched, girlish shriek.<br>"Hey, guys!" Brotch hurried around the counter. "Stop the fuck at once!"  
>Strayer crawled out from under the table and grabbed the bottle that had hit him in the kidneys to throw it back, but he was already too far gone with booze and what else so his aim really sucked. The bottle hit Brotch straight in the back of his neck and the large man folded down to the floor like a rag doll.<p>

After having assured himself Sandy was more or less all right, Flak let go of her and was at the bottle-thrower's side in three long strides. "What are you dumb fuck throwing bottles at my buddy for? He ain't started the fuck!" Without waiting for an answer Flak planted his fist straight into his face and he fell over like a dead tree. His two mates rallied himself now and one grabbed Flak's arms and twisted them behind his back while the other tried to carve up his face with a knife.  
>Shrapnel came to his aid and locked his arm around the throat of the guy wielding the knife while Flak threw back his head and viciously head-butted the man holding him, breaking his nose in a sickening crunch and a spray of blood. Screaming wordlessly the man let go of Flak to clutch his mutilated olfactory organ, blood gushing out between his fingers and running down his chin. "Fuck! The fucktard broke by dose!" He stumbled a few steps back, momentarily out of the picture.<p>

The man in Shrapnel's grip tried to free himself with kicking his shins and ramming his elbows in his abdomen, but even as Shrapnel had to loosen his grip because the fuckwit had hit him right in the stomach Flak grabbed the asshole's collar, lifted him off the ground and threw him in a wide arc to the ground where he landed on his back in a heap of shards with a muffled groan. The guy with the broken nose saw his opening and chance for revenge and charged at Flak with both fists extended, but Shrapnel was faster and tripped him up. The jerk stumbled and landed on his face with a pitiful wail.

The rest of the patrons had just watched the whole thing with interest; usually Brotch broke up any fight almost instantly. A few bets had obviously been made as some caps began to change ownership when Flak and Shrapnel, slightly out of breath, realised their opponents were down. But just as they both wondered where the fuck Sister had suddenly vanished off to they heard Sandy scream, a cut-off scream of fear. They instantly spun around and froze.

"Stupid fuckwits", Sister snarled, clutching Sandy to his chest with his left arm while holding a knife to her throat. He brushed her ear with his lips. "I told you you'd pay, sweetheart." Then he looked at Flak and Shrapnel again, pointedly fondling one of Sandy's breasts. "Move, and she's dead meat."  
>Both of them stood frozen to the spot, Shrapnel with his hair hanging tousled into his face and breathing heavily while Flak stood like a statue, slowly clenching and unclenching his fists while exhaling slowly through his nose.<br>"Time for some feel-good, you dirty little floozy", Sister said to Sandy and took two slow steps backward, dragging her with him. Sandy, in turn, chewed her lower lip and, as if struck by a sudden idea, lowered her eyelids with a sigh.

"I guess I was wrong", she said in a low voice, pressing her head into his shoulder before digging her ass into his groin. "Totally wrong."  
>"Is that so, sweety," Sister mumbled and gave Flak and Shrapnel an evil, cocky grin. "I see."<br>Sandy emitted an affirmative hum while grinding her hips against his crotch. "Hmm. Totally."  
>Sister chuckled and flung her around, knife still extended.<br>"Oh come on, pal", Sandy said in a low voice. "Put the knife away. I'd rather you stick some other pointy things into me, darling."  
>Still chuckling Sister slowly lowered the knife and Sandy smiled ever so sweetly at him while running a hand through his hair. "That's better", she purred. "Much better." Yet she didn't fail to notice that Sister didn't put the knife away completely.<br>"What about a kiss, sweety?", he asked cockily and thrust out his jaw. Still smiling that soft, sensuous smile Sandy giggled under her breath and leaned forward. But even as Sister dug his hand into her hair Sandy bit him in the cheek as hard as she could.

With an angry scream Sister jerked his head away and slashed out with his knife but Sandy had been able to tear herself out of his arm and jumped back so the knife only grazed her arm instead of gutting her. Fuelled on by panic and fury both Sandy then leaned back and lashed her leg up in a kick, hitting him squarely under the chin even as Flak and Shrapnel who had, with instincts and reflexes honed by many years of survival in the Wasteland, sprung to live again the second Sandy had bitten him and dashed past her towards the collapsing form of Sister.

The door opened that moment and a couple of security guards stormed in, led by Chief Harkness who looked around with a frown as he descended the stairs. When he reached the bottom he looked at the four more or less conscious men, the upturned table and several fallen chairs, the shards, the spilled drinks and then Sandy who was clutching her bleeding arm to her chest.

"What has been happening here?"  
>Shrapnel went down onto his knee beside Sister with a worried frown while Flak stared down at the body on the floor with a completely blank face.<br>"Miss Sandy?"  
>Sandy swallowed. "Well. Uhm. Sister's been stirring up trouble. I mean..." She shrugged uncomfortably. "He tried to pick me up."<br>"I see." Harkness crossed his arms.  
>"Well..." Sandy looked around at the carnage and destruction around them. "I smart-mouthed him and he hit me. Then Shrapnel hit him. Then someone threw a bottle. Then... uhm. Then things got out of hand..."<br>"And then Sister put a knife to her throat, threatening to kill her and intending to rape her", Belle Bonny suddenly fell in from behind her counter. "See that wound, chief? She needs to go to Preston."  
>Harkness gave the barkeep a long look before looking a Sandy again. "I hope Sister's got something to say to this."<br>"I guess not anymore, Chief", Shrapnel said a little uncomfortably. "He's dead. Broken neck."  
>Both Harkness and Sandy spun around, the first with narrowed eyes, the latter with her face white as a sheet.<br>"Shit", Sandy gasped. "I didn't mean to kill him..."  
>Harkness shook his head. "Well I won't say I'm unhappy about this because I am not", he said levelly "I was looking for a way to get rid of him for a while now. And if there are witnesses here to confirm Belle's words..." He looked around, and every man he looked at nodded. At last his eyes came to rest on Flak and Shrapnel, both looking the slightest bit worked over. "Nothing to be done about it now, anyway. Get your girl to the clinic, you two. I want a couple more details on this, but that can wait until tomorrow."<br>Both men nodded and Flak said: "Got you, Chief."

The two of them then flanked Sandy and literally escorted her silently out of the Rudder.

Silently the three of them made their way to the clinic, and silently they made their way back towards their cabin. During the whole time Sandy got more and more worried because she had the feeling that her guys were simply furious with her. She could understand it, what with her having hurled herself at Sister that way, sticking her tits into his face, but she had thought it the only way to shut him up for good.  
>When Shrapnel finally closed the door behind them, Sandy was so anxious that she could do nothing but stand there like a pillar of salt and wait for the harangue.<p>

Flak was standing beside her with his arms crossed, looking at his feet. Shrapnel in turn dragged his hands down his face. His voice that was more tired than anything else. "Sandy..."  
>She found the look he gave her hard to bear and stared at her hands. After another painful silence, she finally forced herself to speak. "I'm sorry", she croaked. "Really, I..."<br>A hand closed firmly around her shoulder and she looked at it, then up the arm and into Flak's face. "What the fuck..." He shook his head. "Why the fucking shit are you sorry when it was us who failed you?"  
>Brought up short Sandy could only blink at him and slowly turned her head to look at Shrapnel who was staring at her with a deeply furrowed forehead.<br>"Sandy", he began and rubbed his hands down his face again. "We didn't... I mean..." He took a deep breath and Sandy watched him, completely mystified. "I mean", he tried again. "We weren't happy you trusted your tits into his face... but honestly his expression was pretty hilarious..." He cleared his throat. "Still... well... you didn't mean to insult us, we know that much, it's still a bit..." He stared helplessly at Flak who pressed his lips together before speaking.  
>"Sandy", he continued for his helpless friend. "You've maybe overplayed it a bit, but you've shut him up good and proper... only..."<br>Sandy stared back and forth between the two and couldn't make head or tail of their talk. "Insult you?", she finally dared to venture.

Shrapnel waved this aside with a dismissive flick of his hand. "What we are getting at is we..." He broke off and swallowed. Sandy had never seen either of them like this and couldn't have imagined it had she tried; when Flak continued again for his friend she hoped she would never have to see them like this ever again.  
>"Sandy", Flak said hesitatingly. "I... we... Can you..." He finally looked at her, and Sandy would never forget the haunted look she saw in his eyes. "Can you forgive us?"<br>Sandy felt like someone was pulling the ground away from under her feet. "Forgive you? But... what... why? What is there..."  
>"We've failed you", Flak replied harshly and looked away again.<br>After staring at him like a half-wit for several moments Sandy looked at Shrapnel again. "Failed me?"  
>"We couldn't keep you safe", he said with an unhappy frown. "You're hurt, and we couldn't do anything to avoid it."<br>Sandy slowly shook her head a couple of times, completely stunned. "But... but it was me who wound him up like that", she finally blurted out.  
>"Yeah, and we just watched it and let it happen", Shrapnel gave back, clenching and unclenching his fists. "And then the bastard got the better of you, and all of us, and he almost... he almost raped you in front of our eyes and we..."<br>"Stop", Sandy said, holding up both hands. "Stop. Stop. I don't get it. Stop." She took another deep breath. "I meant to shut him up, I jumped into his face, I thrust my tits under his nose, I kicked the gonads out of him and finally bit him so hard I drew blood... and you say it's your fault? He was so furious at me and me still not watching my back? Your fault?"

Flak and Shrapnel exchanged a look containing something Sandy couldn't identify.

"Guys", Sandy said with a slightly trembling voice. "This is total bullshit. My actions are my own responsibility and..."  
>"And we're your men, and we're supposed to protect you", Flak fell in. "And if we can't protect our girl from being raped and hacked to pieced, what kind of men are we?" He sounded almost desperate and Sandy shook her head with a sad smile.<br>"Men who have to deal with quite a handful? A girl who constantly keeps biting off more than she can chew?"

For a few seconds the silence was palpable before Shrapnel exhaled in a huff of breath that turned into a shaky chuckle. With two fast steps he covered the distance between him and her and threw his arms around her. "Jesus, Sandy." He buried his face into her hair. "Baby. Never do that again. Just... promise you'll never do something like that again. When I thought that bastard was gonna rape you and we couldn't do a thing because he was holding a knife to your throat..." He clutched her tighter and Sandy could only lean into him.  
>"But he didn't", she said. "He didn't. He groped my tits, yeah, but no woman has ever died from that."<br>Shrapnel just held her in a dead-lock embrace while speaking into her hair with a haunted voice she could hardly recognise as his. "No, But god... Sandy, if he had... I just wanted to shoot myself when I thought he would... he would..."  
>Finally, Sandy couldn't stand his behaviour any longer and she tore herself away from him, but he didn't look at her. Behind her she could hear the rustling of Flak's clothing and the unmistakable sound of a lighter being flicked on.<p>

"Shrapnel what is wrong with you? He hardly touched me and he might have had intentions to rape me he didn't..." She could see him grit his teeth. "Shrap?"  
>He crossed his arms. "You just don't know. You've no idea how..." He turned his back on her.<br>"How what?"  
>He kept a grim silence.<br>"What? What have I done?"  
>He finally spun around again, eyes wide. "You? You? Sweet bleeding Jesus, Sandy... it's not what you did. It's what..." He swallowed. "It's what I know. How... how a girl can scream."<br>Sandy slowly narrowed her eyes in worry. "What the fuck...?"

"Fine", he snarled desperately. "Fine! You just gotta know it anyways at some point. Best to have it over with." He inhaled deeply and stared at her, a haunted, ghastly expression on his face. "I've told you I was a slave? But that was only half the truth, baby. You know what I was before? A raider. I was a fucking raider. Our band ran into the slavers one day and we lost. Two of us survived and got the collars on. That's why I know, Sandy. I was one of them. I boozed, I jetted, I murdered and robbed. And little fuckwit that I was... I didn't just watch it. I did it too. Couple of times. Enjoyed it even. Fucktard." He shook his head. "That's what I am, Sandy. That's how I know. I... I'm sorry for not having told you." He turned around again and crossed his arms, leaving Sandy to stare at his back with burning eyes. "I've done it myself. I've raped a dozen girls in my time, at least."

Helplessly Sandy looked at Flak for some kind of backup, but he just smoked with a blank and empty face. "Flak...?"  
>He didn't look at her. "You know what I was, darling. If I say anything it'll be the pot calling the kettle black."<br>"That wasn't..." With a deep, heavy sigh Sandy turned around again and walked up to Shrapnel who stiffened when she put a hand onto his shoulder. "Shrapnel", she said softly. He showed no reaction. "Shrapnel", she said again. "Don't be such an ass. Look at me."  
>He did turn around then, but very hesitatingly. "How can you stand to touch me now, knowing what kind of a man I am?"<br>Sandy resisted the urge to stomp her feet and scream at him. Instead, she took one of his hands and held onto it like a vice when he tried to pull it away. "Because that is bullshit. It's what you were. It's not what you are." Then a thought struck her and she took a deep breath. "Now here", she said. "Do you believe in that stuff about me being the Saviour of the Wastes and that?"  
>Shrapnel exhaled through his nose. "You're a goddamned Saint, Sandy."<br>"You really think so?"  
>He nodded.<br>Sandy looked at Flak again. "You think that too?"  
>Flak brought the cigarette to his lips with an unsteady hand. "I know it. We've had proof enough of that."<br>Looking at Shrapnel again Sandy continued. "And do you believe the Saint of the Wasteland can do something that is wrong? Really wrong? Like blowing up Megaton? Or dealing with slavers, or raiders, or enclave soldiers, or what the fuck?"  
>"Fuck, no", Shrapnel replied with a shaky laugh.<br>"Then why do you think that girl whom everyone calls a Saint could love a bad man?", she snapped.

Shrapnel opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out. When Sandy looked at Flak that he, too, had frozen on the spot and was staring at her. Looking back and forth between the two as she spoke Sandy went on, in a much softer voice. "Stop badmouthing the men I love. Stop badmouthing yourself. If it helps think of it as it being my job to make you better men, Saint that I am."

Staring at her with his mouth still open, Shrapnel shook his head and slowly sank to his knees, then he slung his arms around her and buried his face into her shirt. "Sandy", he finally muttered, his voice muffled by the cloth of her top. "Sandy, baby, what have you done to me?"  
>Sandy buried both her hands into his hair. "Fuck if I know."<br>He chuckled cautiously against her belly.

After lowering herself onto her knees as well Sandy ran her hands through his hair, over and over again, until he finally opened his eyes with a sigh. With a smile she leaned over and placed a kiss onto his forehead before pushing him down onto the mattress.  
>She continued running a hand through his hair and placed soft, gentle kisses onto his eyebrows, his eyelids and his cheeks while her other hand slowly unbuckled his belt. As she slowly slid her hands into his waistline she placed the same tender kisses on his jaw, the side of his neck and finally his lips while Shrapnel had his eyes closed and was breathing deeply and heavily.<p>

Sandy ran her hand through his hair one last time, then drew the hand down his face, caressing the contour of his cheeks and jaw with her fingers before moving the hand down too; and using both her hands freed his dick before closing them around the shaft. Shrapnel opened his eyes with a sharp hiss of breath and lifted his head to look at her when Sandy placed a soft kiss onto the tip of his dick, but his head fell back again and he buried his fingers into her hair when she took as much of him into her mouth as she could.  
>"Sandy", he muttered. "Oh god, Sandy... Sandy, baby..." His breathing accelerated as Sandy used her lips and tongue to caress him and one of her hands to fondle his dick while the other ever so carefully did the same to his balls. He sifted a few strands of hair through his fingers before he dropped his hands and dug them into the mattress under him "God, baby... Sandy..."<br>Strands of Sandy's hair fell forward and covered her face, brushing the exposed part of Shrapnel's lower belly when Sandy tilted her head to take him even deeper in with every move of her head. Moments later Shrapnel succumbed to her attentions and with a deep moan so soft it was hardly more than a sigh, spent himself into her. It was a sensation almost too hard to bear for him; the whores he had had in his life had either stopped before that and finished him off by hand or spat the stuff out again, but not Sandy... she took everything, down to the very last drop while his clenching balls rested in the palm of her hand. "Sandy", he whispered. "Oh baby..."

Sandy slowly let go of him and sat up again. He in turn opened his eyes and when he looked at her she smiled, a sweet, tender smile, and leaned over his face to kiss him. He couldn't even lift his hands to her face when he opened his lips to her but noticed the salty and slightly bitter taste on her tongue and lips, gone after a few seconds. It took him a bit to realise it was himself he tasted, tasting the proof of how much she loved and desired him. Maybe she was right and he really couldn't be that bad a man if a girl like her would love him like that. He smiled at her when she broke the kiss and leaned back while running a hand down his cheek.

Sandy got up again and walked over to the cot where Flak was still sitting and smoking, all of a sudden, somehow, having felt like an intruder on the two during Sandy's tender lovemaking. He looked up at her when she stopped before him, cigarette halfway to his lips, but didn't stop her when she took it from his fingers and snubbed it out against the wall before flicking it away.  
>Whatever he might have expected her to do next, it wasn't what she did. She slung her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close, with him sitting and her standing his head rested now against her breasts as she held him with one arm while the other hand was caressing his hair. Bending her head forward she then placed a kiss onto the top of his head before pressing her cheek against his crown for a moment.<p>

When she leaned back again she placed a hand under his chin to lift his head and Flak found the tender look in her eyes hard to bear. He closed his eyes when she placed her hands on his cheeks and a likewise tender kiss onto his lips that he found even harder to deal with because no one had ever touched him like that. The soft kisses she placed on his face caused him a strange, deeply buried discomfort for some reason and still... despite the discomfort he couldn't remember anything that ever had felt better nor imagine anything that could when she kissed his lips while running her thumbs down his moustache.

He finally opened his eyes again when he felt her kneel down between his legs and cupped her face in his hands as she looked up, a tiny, incredibly soft and sweet smile on her lips that made his throat go dry. Then Sandy turned her head and placed a kiss on the palm of each of his hands before gently pushing them away to lean forward and undo his belt.

Flak let his head drop back against the wall when she freed his dick and ran her lips up and down the sides of him before she shifted her head and he felt the wet hotness of her mouth engulf him. The first few seconds of that sensation was overwhelming and a deep, rumbling sigh heaved his chest before he realised that not only had no woman ever touched him like that but that he himself wouldn't have let any woman touch him that way; yet it was not what her lips and tongue were doing but her hand that was cupping his balls while fondling them with thumb and fingers. It was so ridiculously easy to seriously hurt any man like that, but she didn't. She was careful, ever so careful in her moves and when the initial discomfort he had felt vanished with that realisation Flak gave in to the sensation of what she was doing.

He finally lifted his head and looked down at Sandy kneeling between his legs, his dick in her mouth and his balls in her hand and discovered that nothing had ever felt so thrillingly arousing than the view he had right now. He couldn't summon his voice under control, it was only a husky whisper as he spoke. "Sandy, darling..."  
>She looked up at him without stopping what she was doing.<br>Flak dug his fingers into her hair, breathless at the sight before him and because of the sensations she caused him. "Darling." His throat was almost too dry to swallow. "Sandy." He could almost hear the blood gush in his ears and when Sandy dug her other hand into his belt to pull herself closer to him, looking as if she needed this almost more than he did, and this pushed him over the edge. It was hard to keep his eyes open but impossible not to watch as she drank him dry again, and no matter if he had felt this before and thought he was the king of the world for a few seconds, seeing her doing it on top of everything else was almost too much for him. With his breathing ragged and his heart racing ridiculously fast he let his head drop back against the wall again.

How he managed to get onto his feet again when Sandy got up and took his hands, tugging at them to make him stand up, he had no idea. He followed her and slumped down onto the mattress where Shrapnel opened his eyes again, giving him a knowing smile that he returned before Sandy wedged herself in between them. Both men turned towards her and moved closer; while Flak now nuzzled his face into her hair Shrapnel touched Sandy's forehead with his.  
>Sandy closed her eyes with a blissful sigh that made the two men chuckle softly under their breath.<p>

"You're the best that ever happened to me", she whispered after a while.  
>Both men froze and stared at each other before the rested their eyes on Sandy again who didn't open her eyes.<br>Shrapnel was the first to recover. "Looking at you right now I find it hard to disagree."  
>"I guess we could say the same about you", Flak said in a low voice.<br>Sandy chuckled, eyes still closed. "Really."  
>"Maybe you're right", Shrapnel added. "Maybe you really made us better men."<br>"And maybe I'm your reward for already having become better men in the first place", Sandy gave back, still smiling with closed eyes.  
>"We'll hold on to that thought", Flak murmured into her ear.<p>

"And I promise I'll never do that again", Sandy said after a moment of silence. "If it makes you feel better, then I'll let you do the fighting from now on."  
>"Please do", Shrapnel replied. "I can't stand the thought of any other man touching you, no matter how." He looked at Flak with a crooked little smile. "Present company excepted of course, buddy."<br>"Don't particularly care for having you throw insults at me neither, even if they're only fake", Flak added after he had returned that smile.  
>Finally Sandy opened her eyes. "But I didn't insult you", she said cautiously. "What are you two on about with that?"<br>Flak and Shrapnel looked at each other, mild embarrassment mixed with uncertainty, and Sandy didn't know if she should laugh or cry when Shrapnel finally dared to ask: "Sandy... what the fuck is a stallion?"


	6. Kiss me, I'm shitfaced

_**A/N**: "Kiss me, I'm shitfaced" is a song by The Dropkick Murphys_

* * *

><p>After her first experience in the Muddy Rudder Sandy became reckless and wanted to go there again for a drink and what with Sister gone, Flak and Shrapnel could find nothing wrong with that anymore. Still, Sandy made a point of keeping a low profile, to her guys' visible relief. Keeping a low profile became somewhat of a challenge however as the evening wore on because not only was Sandy becoming an awful klutz while drunk but also cracked up and cackled like an old hag whenever one of the two made even the slightest attempt at a joke. It wasn't before too long after this that Flak and Shrapnel decided she'd had enough and tried to talk her into calling it a night.<p>

She pouted at them. "But I'm having the fun of my life!"  
>Shrapnel had to chuckle. The two of them were far from sober, but Sandy was quite obviously absolutely hammered. "Come on, baby. You've had enough to drink and we can have some more fun in a bit more privacy." He waggled his eyebrows and Sandy guffawed with an ear battering screech.<br>Flak in turn was, unsurprisingly, a silent drinker. The worse he got wasted, the less he said. And given the fact he hadn't said a single word during the last half hour it was obvious that he, too, was as shit-faced as the other two. He emptied his glass and gave Sandy a blood-shot stare.

"Sandy", he said after a while. "Darling, let's get going."  
>Sandy slowly swayed back and forth while trying to focus on his face. "But..."<br>"Baby", Shrapnel said with a drawl and carefully stood up before taking her hand. "Believe us. Take the word of two guys who know what they're talking about. You've had enough... and so have we."

Sandy looked back and forth between the two, watching Flak as he, too, slowly got out of his chair. He moved with the slow grace of the practised drinker and gave Sandy a hand up, who swayed and stumbled to her feet with a giggle.

Making her way back to their cabin was a tiresome and tedious undertaking in their state, especially with Sandy having to utilize the whole breadth of the corridors and constantly bumping into walls. She also kept bumping into the guys, groping their clothes with helpless giggles every time to keep herself from falling. To be fair, Flak and Shrapnel themselves couldn't walk a straight line anymore, either. Not precisely. This led to all three of them constantly bumping into each other and in the end, sending Sandy sprawling onto the floor. In their state it took her guys a while to get her onto her feet again, and the fact that she just screeched and giggled didn't help.

When they finally had dragged her onto her feet again Flak leaned back, stared at the other two with a screwed up expression of deep thought and a furrowed forehead for a while before he belched softly and said: "I gotta piss."  
>That set Sandy off again and Shrapnel slipped an arm under her shoulder and dragged the screeching form of Sandy away. "I'll get her behind solid doors before we get into trouble with security", he said to his friend who nodded before turning around and trying to remember where the john was.<p>

Shrapnel kicked the door shut behind him and after two more steps of dragging her along, dropped Sandy onto the mattress rather unceremoniously, then slowly sat down beside her as not to upset his swimming head too much. The second his arse touched the ground however, Sandy launched herself at him, grabbed his collar and bowled him down. Before he had even time to rally himself Sandy's lips crashed into his and her tongue was devouring his mouth. Completely taken off his guard Shrapnel could only open his lips to the hungriest, greediest kiss he had ever received and only realised dimly through a haze of alcohol and lack of oxygen that Sandy groped and tore at the buttons of his vest.

He had to press both his hands onto Sandy's cheeks to tear her face away from his to break the kiss and, gasping for air a few times, he chuckled hazily at her. "Jesus. That hungry, Sandy?"  
>Her usually nimble hands now clumsily fumbled with the buckle of his belt. "Off with those. Now."<br>Shrapnel grinned and shook his head. "Sandy..."  
>She shut him up with another kiss and pawed at his belt until she finally managed to unclasp the buckle. After tearing that open she had unzipped the pants within seconds. Shrapnel gasped another time for air when she straightened up and winced when she tore his pants down with a wrench. "Go easy on the goods, baby." He tried to smile at her but Sandy was completely focussed on what she had just uncovered. Shrapnel had never seen a girl eye his dick so greedily and swallowed when Sandy let herself drop forward and he could only close his eyes with a dry croak escaping his throat when Sandy took him into her mouth and did what he could only call 'gobble him off'.<p>

Helplessly digging his fingers into the mattress Shrapnel gasped her name a couple of times when, as suddenly as she had attacked his dick, she let go of it and stood up to frantically tear at her own clothing. She kicked off her boots and her cargoes which she threw against the wall, then wriggled out of her panties which she threw into Shrapnel's face. He caught them with a shaky chuckle but before he could say something Sandy had mounted him with a high-pitched moan. His vision swam when he watched her and the room was spinning faster and faster when he tried to keep his thoughts together. She was riding him. Hard. "Sandy..."

He had tried to warn her. Well, he would have, had she given him any chance to speak. As it was he watched Sandy's face turn from lustfully crazed to a confused frown before she finally stared at him. He couldn't help it, her expression was so bewildered that he broke out into a drunken, dirty chuckle.  
>"What is wrong with you...?" Sandy asked him with a pout.<br>He snorted. "Sandy baby... it's the booze. I... Sorry. I can't."  
>She narrowed her eyes. "Waddya mean, the booze?"<br>Watching her face he manfully fought for his composure. "I can't. If you wanna fuck a guy then don't let him get that hammered before."  
>Sandy looked down at herself and at his crotch she was perching on. "Fuck."<p>

That did it. Shrapnel broke out into a laugh, succumbing to the situation with a greedy, horny chick sitting on his lap and trying to ride him and he... he couldn't. He was too plastered even to be embarrassed. When he looked at Sandy again she suddenly grinned and first chuckled, then giggled. Letting herself slide off him she fell down beside him and joined him; and they helplessly guffawed for a while until the door opened and Flak stumbled slowly in with an unlit cigarette hanging loosely from the corner of his mouth.  
>He turned around after closing the door and faltered when he saw his buddy lying on his back with his trousers crumpled around his knees and Sandy beside him naked from hip downwards. He lifted one eyebrow, gave them both a blood-shot stare and found himself a chair which he turned around before sitting down so he perched on it with his arms resting on its back. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and gave it a thoughtful stare. Then looked up again and the two chuckling, giggling twits on the mattress. "Did I miss the show?"<br>Sandy giggled again and dragged a hand down Shrapnel's belly. "Oh hell yeah. And what a show it was."  
>Flak lifted one eyebrow and looked at Shrapnel who still chuckled a little helplessly. With a shake of his head, Flak shoved the unlit cigarette into a pocket without taking his eyes off his friend. "You couldn't."<br>Sandy screeched again and rolled herself into a snorting, cackling ball at Shrapnel's side. He in turn looked at her, then at his friend and shrugged. Pointless to try and keep even a remnant of dignity in that position he was in. "Nope."  
>Sniffling and wiping her eyes Sandy sat up again and stared at Flak. "What about you, sports?", she purred. It might have sounded sexy if she hadn't been so sloshed.<p>

Flak looked at her, mildly amused and mildly turned on, but without saying a word he slowly lowered his head and stared at his crotch for a long, long while with a very thoughtful frown before he looked up at Sandy again and shook his head with a lopsided grin.

Sandy giggled and opened her arms. "Kiss me, at least?", she asked, and with a low, amused chortle Flak got out off the chair and slumped down beside her.  
>"C'me here, Sandy", he muttered before clamping his arms around her and kissing the everliving daylights out of her for a couple of seconds. When he let go of her it was Sandy's turn to gasp for air and she slowly sank down onto her back.<br>"Move your hairy arse, buddy", Flak mumbled when he let himself drop down beside her. Shrapnel crept a little ways to the side and managed, after a serious amount of twisting and cursing, to wriggle out of his pants and pull the boxers back up. When he turned around again to look at his friend he found him staring down at Sandy with an expression that was half amused, half worried. Following his eyes Shrapnel saw that she had passed out and was snoring softly.

"There's gonna be one hell of a price to pay tomorrow", Shrapnel said.  
>"I guess so", was the reply before Flak closed his eyes and let his head drop back.<br>"Know what she did?"  
>"No."<br>"She rode me, buddy. Well, she tried to."  
>"Maybe you can try it again when she's sober. Or better, when you're sober." He snorted. "If she remembers anything about tonight."<br>Shrapnel stared down at himself and at his crotch, remembering the sight of his half-hard dick as if the sleazy bastard meant to say he'd like to, really wouldn't mind, but couldn't be bothered right now. The little wimp. "Maybe it's better if she doesn't."


	7. What a lucky girl I am

"Where are we going?"  
>Shrapnel smiled secretively at Sandy. "It's a surprise."<br>Sandy narrowed her eyes, a cautious smile on her lips. "And why are we going there armed?"  
>" 'cause there might be mirelurks", Flak replied. "Run into them before."<br>They rounded another corner and through a door that was, by the sound of its hinges, apparently very seldom used.  
>"Where are we?"<br>Flak groped along the wall until he found a light switch. "In the lower aft deck." A lamp hesitatingly sprung to life, shedding a dim and fluttering light, but it was better than the absolute darkness before.  
>Sandy had a look around, but this corridor looked exactly like any other on the ship, apart from the layer of dust on the floor where she could see several comparatively new tracks of footprints.<p>

Flak stopped at one of the doors to listen, then cautiously opened it, SMG extended. After a glance around the corner, he nodded at the other two. "All clear. None of the fuckers around, it seems."  
>She was dying of curiosity when she followed Flak into the room and Shrapnel closed the door behind them before he fiddled with the lock.<br>"Still works", he said after the lock slid into place with a crunching click and added with a chuckle: "Let's just hope we get out again."  
>A small strip of light from the corridor crept in under the door, and all Sandy could see for now was a tiled floor.<br>"All right, baby", Shrapnel said. "You've been complaining about the washrooms upstairs."  
>"Yes...?"<p>

Flak switched the lights on and Sandy realised they were standing in a bathroom with double shower cubicle at the far wall. "Showers?" A ridiculously giddy excitement came over her at the thought of the first shower since she had left the Vault.  
>"We found this while exploring the ship, shortly after we moved in here", Shrapnel explained. "Haven't been here in a while before we remembered this."<br>"But there's showers in the upstairs washroom, as well." Sandy tapped her chin with her forefinger. "Although admittedly, they don't work properly. Mostly not at all."  
>"It's kinda more private, you just gotta deal with the lurks first." Flak fell in. "Besides, this one's closer to the power generators."<br>Sandy looked back and forth between them. "Which means?"  
>The two exchanged a small grin before Shrapnel answered her. "That the water's warm, baby."<br>Sandy felt as if her head would split with the grin spreading on her face. "A warm shower? One that works AND that is warm?" She looked back and forth between the two of them. "Are you serious?"

Her only answer were two pleased, slightly self-conscious smiles.

"So, do you wanna go first?", Shrapnel asked after a moment.  
>Sandy was about to reply yes to this when she looked at the cubicles again, their curtains long rotted away. Struck by a sudden inspiration she slowly sat down on one of the benches beside the door. "I... I don't think so", she said slowly and smiled while chewing her lower lip. "You guys go first."<br>"Don't trust our words regarding the temperature?", Flak asked as he unbuttoned his vest. "Or need us to try it out first?"  
>Shrapnel had already shed his vest and was pulling his shirt over his head when Sandy chuckled. He looked at her with raised eyebrows and a cautious smile.<br>"Oh I do", Sandy said, leaning back as she ran an admiring glance up and down first Shrapnel's body, then Flak's. "I do. It's just..." Her smile softened. "That way I get a shower and a show."

Just about to unbuckle his belt Shrapnel faltered, staring at her slightly mystified and more than a little embarrassed.  
>Flak, in turn, seemed slightly less taken aback. "I just hope you don't expect us to dance", he said dryly as he dropped his shirt onto the bench.<br>Suppressing a hysterical laughter and being unable to turn it into less than something between a chuckle and a giggle Sandy shook her head.  
>"Good."<p>

Sandy in turn watched them while trying not to stare too blatantly as she could well see they both felt the tiniest bit uncomfortable. So she just sat back against the wall and didn't comment on it when they both, seemingly unconsciously, turned their backs to her.

She couldn't keep her mouth shut for much longer, however. "Anyone ever told you what a fantastic ass you've got, Flak?"  
>Flak froze for a couple of seconds before looking at her over his shoulder with a crooked grin. "Nope."<br>Shrapnel almost choked on the laughter he was desperately biting back and shook his head. Then he realised Sandy was also looking at him and rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand. "Like what you see, baby?"  
>Sandy just nodded. With an unfamiliar feeling of self-conscious embarrassment Shrapnel turned around again to head for the shower.<p>

"Shrap?", Sandy asked then. "Can I ask you something?"  
>"What?" he looked at her again.<br>"Those scars..."  
>He chuckled. "Which ones?"<br>"The two long ones on your back."  
>Shrapnel looked down at his left hip where the two whitish stripes faded out after running diagonally across his back from the right shoulder. "Oh, them." He shrugged. "The one who gave me those also gave me these." With these words he picked up the leather string around his neck from which a couple of teeth were dangling. Sandy tried not to pull a face and Shrapnel laughed under his breath. "It was a yao guai, in case you wonder."<br>"I was wondering", Sandy replied with a somewhat relieved grin. "Why did you keep them?"  
>"'cause it could've easily been the other way round back then", he replied. "Ran out of ammo. Had to kill the fucker with my combat knife."<br>Sandy goggled at him. "You killed a yao guai with a combat knife?"  
>"After I emptied my last two rounds of 5.57s into it, yes."<br>Staring at him with a baffled grin Sandy shook her head. "When was that?"  
>Shrapnel frowned thoughtfully, trying to ignore the fact he was buck naked while Sandy was still fully clothed which made him feel a little awkward. "Couple of years before I met Flak." Then he looked at her again and added in a somewhat lower voice: "Let's leave it at that."<br>With a smile of understanding, Sandy nodded before asking: "Is that why you never take it off?"  
>Shrapnel nodded in return.<br>"Good luck charm?"  
>He snorted softly under his breath. "Luck had little to do with it, baby. You don't kill a wounded, frenzied guai with a knife just running on luck, you know."<br>"So... it's a trophy?"  
>"I guess so. And a reminder of how hard to kill I am."<br>Sandy closed her eyes for a second with a thoughtful smile before replying. "Considering I've seen you survive a headshot I can hardly disagree."  
>As an answer, he just gave her a long look under half-lowered lids before the right corner of his mouth twitched up. "For you, baby, I'd survive having a missile shot up my nose."<p>

Flak, who in the meantime had wrenched the taps open in one of the cubicles, emitted a loud snort upon hearing those words while Sandy felt a blush creep onto her cheeks that made her want to hide her face. To cover up that feeling she took off her boots and cargoes before settling down on the bench again.  
>She then shifted her attention to Flak who was already testing the water and realised that he, too, was still wearing the one piece of what could probably be called jewellery; a leather string as well, but wound around his left wrist several times. Threaded upon this was a holed bead of some kind of metal, and since it caught her attention now, as he obviously never took this off as well, she asked him too.<p>

"Flak?"  
>He blinked water out of his eyes. "Hm?"<br>"And what kind of trophy is what you have there?" She held up her left wrist in illustration.  
>He looked at his hand. "Oh, that." He shrugged. "Well, I guess you could call that a trophy, too. It's a bullet."<br>Sandy felt her eyebrows rise and Flak shrugged again. "Shrap dug it out of my chest and rammed a couple of stims into the hole. Saved my fucking life that day."  
>"Yeah, but if you hadn't been too stubborn to die you'd not have made it, stims or no", Shrapnel fell in from the other side of the wall. "Lost almost every single drop of blood. Gave me the willies to see you in a puddle that big with your face in the dirt, buddy."<p>

Sandy looked back and forth between the two of them who so casually talked, even almost joked about matters of life and death, even if it was long past and done with. The image Shrapnel's description had produced in her mind coincided all too fittingly with her nightmare from the other night and she could see it all too easily. She wrenched her mind away from that as fast as she could and forced herself to look at the men again, and when she did so, she felt the heat creep back into her face, all images of bloodshed forgotten.

Of course, after being with them for a couple of months now there wasn't an inch of either their bodies she wasn't familiar with, but what she was watching now made the heat creep not only into her face. She couldn't even say what exactly it was that turned her on that way as she watched them soap their bodies, as always moving with the fluid grace of men with absolute body control who were completely at ease and yet fully aware both of themselves and their surroundings. The water was running down their muscles in rivulets, accentuating every curve and line and she also realised while she stared at them that she would have to tear herself in half if she would have to make a decision right now. Lucky for her she would never have to. Oh what a lucky girl she was.

Staring at them she wasn't even aware of what her right hand was doing, only realised her breathing grew fast, neither did she hear that Flak addressed Shrapnel in a very low voice while leaning towards the divider between the cubicles. "Hey, buddy."  
>They couldn't look at each other but Shrapnel heard the odd note in his voice and looked up at Sandy to find her stare at them with empty, widened eyes, her cheeks flushed a deep red, her lips slightly parted, and her right hand dug into her panties. It was a sight that could throw any man off track, knowing he was the cause of that empty stare.<p>

Without taking his eyes off Sandy, Shrapnel turned the water off and left his cubicle; beside him Flak was doing the same but left the water running. They both slowly took a few steps towards Sandy who finally became aware of her surroundings again. She swallowed and smiled, but only very slowly drew her hand out of the waistline of her panties.  
>"Enjoying yourself?", Flak asked her in a low-pitched rumble.<br>Sandy nodded with a dreamy smile. "Oh... yes. I just... I just realised what a lucky girl I am."  
>Without exchanging a glance they both extended a hand to her then, and Sandy got up, walked up to them and took each hand into one of hers. They pulled her close, flanked her and while Flak then ran a hand down her side and placed kisses on her neck Shrapnel gently groped her buttocks while nibbling her ear.<p>

Both men were still dripping wet and the moisture seeped through Sandy's top and her panties, making them cling to her body. Under the wet and cool fabric of her top her nipples hardened and stood out as dark little buds through the white cloth, covered moments later by two hands; the right one gently rubbed by the palm of Flak's hand while Shrapnel idly toyed with her left nipple between his thumb and forefinger.  
>Sandy closed her eyes with a low whimper when Flak placed a gentle love bite at the base of her throat. Moments later Shrapnel did the same to the back of her neck.<br>The two hands then shoved up her top, uncovering her breasts one after another and while a few single drops of water trickled down her belly Sandy lifted her arms so they could pull the top over her head. When Shrapnel slowly knelt down to remove her panties Sandy lowered her arms and slung them around Flak's neck to kiss him, he in turn dug his hands into her lower back as they kissed while Shrapnel slipped her panties down and placed a couple of kisses onto her thighs and buttocks in the process before he got up again. Flak broke the kiss and took one of her hands, Shrapnel in turn took the other, and in unspoken agreement they led Sandy into the cubicle where the water was still running.

The water was, while not hot, still comfortably warm and sheer bliss to Sandy who had grown up with hot showers and had come to miss them thoroughly with every cold wash she had to be content with after leaving her former home. She closed her eyes with a sigh that turned into a soft moan when Flak and Shrapnel stepped in beside her and picked up their caressing touches again. Warm water was trickling down on Sandy while two pairs of hands now roamed and wandered up and down her body, practically touching her everywhere at once.

When Flak after a while shifted his attention and, after picking up the soap, began to lather her hair and run his fingers over her scalp she had to lean against him for support; with a chuckle in return he leaned his back against the wall without stopping what he was doing. Shrapnel in turn now soaped down her body; he began with her hands and moved down her arms, down her flanks and up her belly and breasts; his hands, slick with soap, were then running over her hips and buttocks before he knelt down and slid his hands down her legs and finally, her feet. Sandy was already breathing fast and heavy by the time he had reached her feet and now looked down at him, as he was still kneeling.  
>"You forgot something", she whispered.<br>He chuckled. "No", he said then. "I didn't forget. I saved it up until the end." With a slow smile he then nudged her legs a little apart and if Sandy hadn't already been leaning against Flak for support she'd have toppled helplessly to the ground when Shrapnel leaned forward and, after kissing the triangle of moist curls on her lower belly, slipped his tongue right into her. She couldn't suppress a high-pitched wail and swayed, but Flak's strong arms closed around her and held her steady while his fingers toyed with her nipples. He placed a couple of kisses down her neck before whispering into her ear with a heavy huff of breath. "Sandy, darling." Sandy gasped for air with a chocked wail. "Come on, darling. Scream for him."

And Sandy let her head fall back against Flak's shoulder and screamed Shrapnel's name which, in turn, led to him doubling his efforts with a deep, throaty hum that made her scream again. Only seconds later she reached her peak; and she screamed Shrapnel's name a third time while digging her hands into his wet hair. When a few moments later her heartbeat began to calm down she sagged against Flak with a sob; the rivulets of warm water running down her body feeling like liquid, ice-cold fire.

Flak was running a hand down her belly while gently nuzzling her neck, and Shrapnel leaned back and let his head fall backwards, the water from the shower hitting him straight in the face while he emitted a deep hum of satisfaction. Then he sighed and got onto his feet again to look at Sandy who looked absolutely battered. Shrapnel leaned forward with a soft chuckle and kissed her but Sandy surprised him with opening her lips and returning that kiss with hungry ferocity.

"I need you", she gasped against his lips. "Both of you. I want you. Both of you. Now. And I want you to finish this time."  
>"We might hurt you", Flak muttered into her ear.<br>She smiled, a smile that made both Flak's and Shrapnel's throat go dry. "I don't care. I want all of it this time."  
>And seeing her, listening to her, they found it impossible to refuse. And since she was slick with soap, water and her own arousal Flak hardly needed any effort to enter her after cautiously spreading her buttocks apart. Sandy emitted a few wailing gasps, but not of pain, when he had sheathed himself and was breathing heavily into her ear.<p>

Shrapnel took another step forward then and at that moment Sandy realized through her haze that she would have to give herself up completely to the two men because in this position she couldn't keep her feet on the ground, but crazed by the sensation of one dick already inside her and what it did to that sensation when Shrapnel now took her hips and lifted her up, giving herself up completely to the two men was the only thing she could do. When Shrapnel entered her, too, she wasn't breathing anymore but gasping for air with high-pitched squeals with every exhale of breath a wailing scream.  
>Both men were breathing hard and raggedly when they began to move, and their breathing turned into deep groans as well when they sped up and thrust into her without holding back this time. And Sandy was all but seeing stars. It was almost too much.<br>Flak breathlessly whispered her name a few times before he spent himself with a few last deep thrusts and a shudder. Shrapnel followed moments after, and he threw back his head with a bellow that vibrated in Sandy's chest as he came. All three of them were gasping for air and only slowly becoming aware of the fact that the water had turned cold on them in the meantime.

With heavy, laborious movements the three peeled themselves off each other, but Flak had to catch Sandy bodily because she couldn't keep herself upright straight away. "Are you all right, darling?", he asked her after placing a kiss onto her cheek.  
>Sandy managed a smile. "Perfect", she whispered hoarsely. "I think I've never been so clean in my live."<br>Both men chuckled in reply to that. When she cautiously took a step and winced, Shrapnel took her hand. "You hurt, baby?"  
>"A bit. But that's what I asked for."<br>He pressed a kiss into her palm. "You did."  
>Sandy smiled at him and toyed with one of the teeth on the leather string around his neck. "I wish I could keep a trophy for having survived... that." She chuckled and let go of it again.<br>Shrapnel in turn looked at her while slowly tilting his head with a frown forming on his forehead. Sandy lifted her eyebrows, but then his face lit up and with a soft smile, he pulled the necklace over his head.  
>Sandy froze at the look in his eyes when he carefully placed the string around her neck, then looked down at the three teeth that now rested above her breasts and swallowed.<p>

"You know", she said after a while, "considering what kind of an asshole you started off to be you've got quite the romantic streak in you."  
>Shrapnel lifted his eyebrows.<br>"Oh surely you remember that?" Sandy grinned. "When I came to Rivet City the first time and we met, you looked at me with disdain written all over you as if to say: Great, another one of those clueless vault assholes. 'Don't know you, don't care. Keep it short.' Remember?"  
>"Uhm." He rubbed the back of his neck with an apologetic grin. "I guess I had a hangover that day."<br>Flak snorted with a shake of his head.  
>Shrapnel went on with a crooked, self-conscious grin. "But I also remember having thought, about five seconds later: Yeah, and she's also one hell of a hot chick. Good job, lunkhead."<br>Sandy couldn't suppress a giggle.  
>"Bit surprising you didn't write me off as first class asshole material and be done with it."<br>"I was about to", Sandy replied with a shrug. "And then I thought: Shit, he's got some sexy voice for such an asshole."

Shrapnel dropped his shirt again that he had just picked up, staring at her for a couple of seconds while Sandy giggled again.

"And then I spoke to Flak", she went on and looked at the man in question who was just pulling up his leather pants. He raised his eyebrows but said nothing and Sandy shook her head with a smile before continuing. "And the first thing I thought was: Fuck, he's got one sexy voice as well. And then..." She ran a hand through her hair and a tiny blush darted over her cheeks. "Then, bam, I was thinking of how it would feel to be kissed with a moustache like that. I think you were just checking inventory or something because I'm sure you'd have remembered my red face when I realized what I had been thinking." She chuckled again. "And then you sat down beside Shrapnel and I saw you two sitting there, and I thought: Wow. Just that. Wow. Two men like that with sexy voices and... I don't know. Maybe I was starved for some real manliness growing up in the Vault. I was just completely off my feet looking at you and at the same time totally confused because I... because I couldn't make up my mind which one of you two was more attractive."

Flak and Shrapnel exchanged a long glance of mild amusement.  
>"Figures", Flak said after a moment with a twitch of his lips.<br>Sandy shrugged with a helpless smile. "What can I say?"  
>With a shake of his head and a low chuckle Flak closed his arms around her and kissed her. When he leaned back and Sandy ran a finger down his moustache he smiled at her under lowered lids. "I guess we got that question outta the way, then."<br>Sandy just smiled at him in response.  
>"You know", he went on, resting his eyes on her neckline, "That thing actually looks good on you."<br>"Think so?" Sandy looked down at herself.  
>"Makes you look a bit more vicious."<br>Sandy laughed. "Like a tribal, I guess." Then her eyes fell upon his wrist and the leather string that he wore there.  
>Flak followed her gaze and shrugged. "I'd give this to you, darling, it's only that I'm kind of..." He broke off, and because Sandy expected him to finish with '...attached to it' she was completely taken aback when he said: "... hiding a scar under that thing."<br>She stared at his wrist with a frown. "What kind of scar would a man like you have to hide, for fuck's sake?"

Flak avoided her eyes when she looked at him and began to pick at the knot, but after watching his clumsy, one-handed attempts for a moment Sandy gently pushed his hands aside and untied the knot herself. Flak then slowly unwound the string and, with his lips pressed tightly together, showed her the inside of his wrist.

It was a scar, all right. It was the pinkish-whitish colour of a burn in the shape of an S and Sandy didn't have to ask what it was. He bore the mark of the slavers on his skin like a fucking cattle brand.

Sandy couldn't suppress a sigh but Flak still didn't look at her. Pursing her lips in thought she wound the string around her own left wrist and tied a knot into it; but when she looked up after that Flak was still staring past her and at the floor. Not knowing what to say but thinking she knew what to do Sandy took his left hand so the palm faced upward and slowly covered the brand on his wrist with her fingers.  
>He finally looked at her, an unfamiliar glow in his eyes.<br>"It doesn't change a fucking thing", Sandy said at last.  
>He kept on looking at her, the glow in his eyes slowly intensifying until she thought she'd turn to ashes under his stare. And without a warning he suddenly blinked, then threw his arms around her, locked her into a dead-lock embrace and kissed her as if there would be no tomorrow.<br>When he broke the kiss Sandy was out of breath and almost dizzy, but when he opened his mouth she forestalled him with a deep breath. "And don't you dare to give me any of that 'I-don't-deserve-you' shit."

Flak stared at her for a couple of seconds more before he closed his mouth again and chuckled dryly under his breath. Sandy in turn ran a hand through his hair, down the back of his head and up his cheek again before her smile turned into something more amused and she dragged her thumb up through his moustache, making it stand on edge. Flak shuddered violently and with a grumble dragged a hand down his face to smooth it back. "Don't do that." But he had to smile nonetheless.


	8. Three is no crowd, three's a charm

It was the first time that morning that Sandy didn't wake up when Flak and Shrapnel peeled themselves off her and the mattress to start the day; and looking at her, still so deeply asleep, they didn't have the heart to wake her up. Each of them cast a last look at her sleeping form, however, before they left the cabin, and both of them drank in the sight of Sandy sprawled out on the mattress with her chestnut hair framing her face, and her naked body, clad only with two pieces of leather string.  
>Shrapnel silently closed the door and the two men looked at each other, a long, thoughtful look communicating that they both felt the same and also that they both would never admit this to anyone else but each other.<p>

Flak lit a cigarette and shook his head. "Damn girl turns us into a pair of pansies."  
>Looking at him and listening to him talk, Shrapnel could hardly imagine any man less fitting to be called something even remotely like this, but he knew where Flak was coming from. "And is that better or worse than to be called a fag?", he asked and Flak snorted.<br>"Fuck if I know."

Shrapnel wasn't even sure he wanted to know the answer to this and instead occupied his mind with the memories of the night before.

"Stop grinning like that", Flak muttered as they entered the marketplace. "You look like someone's powdered your face with a sack full of hammers."  
>"Butthead", Shrapnel snapped at him under his breath, but he dragged a hand down his face. Admittedly, the memory of Sandy screaming his name the way she had was thoroughly deteriorating his concentration, but that didn't give him leave to act like a fifteen year old boy at his age.<p>

They kept the time they spent on their breakfast to a minimum; ever since it had become apparent what was going on with the two of them and Sandy, Angela had had a problem with them, especially so after she herself had married Diego and now considered herself a sedate, honourable woman. They withdrew themselves into their stall with their cups where they shared a silent morning smoke while waiting for the coffee to cool down.

It wasn't before too long when Sandy entered the marketplace, and both of them had to hide a grin at the sight of her because there was a girl who had 'God almighty, what a night' written all over her.  
>Yet, when she descended the stairs and looked around, Shrapnel hid his face in his cup and cleared his throat. "Did we give her those hickeys, buddy?"<br>"You're not expecting a serious answer to that, do you?"  
>"Fuck, no."<p>

After having equipped herself with a coffee Sandy sauntered over and, instead of her usual flopping down, cautiously lowered herself into the couch. "Morning, guys."  
>"Morning, Sandy." Shrapnel smiled at her over the rim of his cup.<br>"Morning", Flak said as well.  
>She shifted. "Why didn't you wake me up?"<br>Since the answer 'Because you were so sweet lying there with your tousled hair and dreamy pout we didn't have the heart to do it' was not an option they exchanged a quick glance before Flak answered: "You seemed to need it."  
>"I guess I was a little exhausted after last night", Sandy gave back while meditating over her coffee with a wistful smile that turned into a sheepish grin. "Was kind of freaky, though, to wake up and be alone." She shifted again.<br>"Are you all right, Sandy?" Shrapnel leaned a little forward.  
>She took a sip of her coffee. "My ass hurts."<br>Flak stared into his cup. "Sorry, darling."  
>Sandy snorted. "What for? Doing what I asked you to?" She patted his thigh. "I kinda enjoyed it, you know. Just in case you didn't notice."<p>

Now it was his turn to grin sheepishly; only for a second however before his face turned into his usual blank expression again that Sandy knew to be his official face. He wasn't so much withdrawn as completely closed-off and while he rarely showed her any deep emotion when they were somewhere private he displayed none of those with other people around. She had accepted this part of his personality and had stopped trying to make him kiss or embrace her in public quite a while ago.

Sandy leaned back and took a sip of her coffee. "But I don't forgive you those hickeys. Neither of you."  
>Flak and Shrapnel discovered all of the world's most secret treasures on the bottom of their cups.<br>"Oh come on", Sandy said after a moment and nudged both of them with an elbow. "I was just shitting you."  
>Shrapnel shot her a cautious glance.<br>"I'm gonna take my revenge for that, though", Sandy said at none of them in particular.  
>"You're welcome to try", Shrapnel replied, biting back a grin. They both topped her by six or seven inch and outweighed her by more than sixty pounds and he busily tried to ignore the fact that if she first had him on his back and his dick in her hand she could do pretty much anything to him.<p>

As he watched her she was idly toying with her necklace and he couldn't name the strange feeling upon seeing her do it, seeing that string of leather around her neck that he had been wearing until last night for more than fifteen years. He was sure Flak felt something similar about the one she wore around her wrist; while Shrapnel had known about the mark he had never seen it himself as Flak had been wearing that piece for as long as the two had been hanging around together.

The arrival of a pair of scavengers tore him out of his musings and while he and Flak got up to deal with them Sandy remained seated, folded her right leg under the left one and nursed her coffee while watching them with interest.

"Hey guys", one of the scavengers said, a freckled, red-haired guy wearing a pair of goggles. "Been a while."  
>Shrapnel snubbed out his cigarette when the other one dropped a pretty large bundle onto the table. "Quite."<br>"Look at that baby here", the second scavenger said, his face all grey beard and bulbous nose. He unwrapped the bundle and revealed a missile launcher of a type Sandy had never seen before.  
>Flak leaned over the thing. "Where'd you get that, Rupert?"<br>"Hah. I'd be cutting my own throat if I tell you that."  
>Flak didn't comment further on it when he inspected the launcher closely.<br>Shrapnel in turn had a look through the other wares the younger man had dumped beside the weapon.  
>"This is junk", he said. "Most of it, anyway." He picked up a pistol that had a bent barrel and frowned.<br>"Oh come on", the red-haired one said. "I'm sure it's salvageable."  
>"It's a .32, Max. We're swimming in those fuckers and don't need another one that's not worth the metal it's made of." He tossed the gun back onto the table<p>

With a frown Max dropped the pistol back into his pack. He then sorted with Shrapnel through the rest of the stuff while Flak was still scrutinizing the missile launcher.

"It's in pretty good shape", he had to admit after a while.  
>Rupert leaned forward and knocked his knuckles against the barrel. "I know. There's a missile stuck in, though. We couldn't get it out."<br>Flak leaned forward and peeked into it with a frown. "Yeah. We'll see about that."  
>Sitting back Sandy watched the ongoings with interest and amusement when the two scavengers tried to haggle about the price. She had seen this quite often now and it always ended the same way; in the end they gave up, just like everyone else. You didn't haggle with Flak and Shrapnel.<br>"All right then", Rupert said with an angry sigh. "You got some grenades? Five will do."

Sandy got up before either of the two could move and dug into the box behind her, took five grenades out of it and dropped those down onto the counter. Both Flak and Shrapnel were hiding their smiles when Rupert and Max stared at her for a couple of seconds. Sandy in her tank top holding a handful of grenades to her chest was a rare sight for tired eyes to behold.

"Well hello there", Max said with a smile and pushed his goggles back. He had a pair of amazingly blue eyes, but also a ridiculously sad excuse for a beard dusting his chin.  
>Sandy cocked an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms.<br>Rupert leaned over the table and chuckled. "Who's the chick, Flak? I she also for saaagh..." His feet were suddenly a few inches above the ground as he was dangling from his collar in Flak's right hand.  
>"Drop it", Flak said in a voice that was completely devoid of any kind of emotion.<br>"Got you", Rupert choked out and Flak dropped him again. With an angry snort Rupert shot him a murderous look while rolling his shoulders and straightening his collar. "No sense of humour, that man."  
>"Nope", Flak replied levelly. "And if you look at her again you'll be carrying your balls on a string around your neck."<br>"Jesus", Rupert said with a shake of his head. "I get you, all right? Keep your pants on."

Max had looked back and forth between Flak and Sandy a couple of times and was now shaking his head sadly. "Damnit, I always seem to come too late." He smiled shyly at Sandy who lowered her eyelids.  
>"Forget it", she said. "I don't kiss guys with pocket lint stuck all over their face."<br>With a mortified, self-conscious expression Max touched his chin. "I knew I should've shaved this morning."  
>"Shave?" Sandy chuckled with a glint in her eyes. "Put some milk on it and let your dog lick it off."<br>Shrapnel didn't quite manage to suppress a snort, and he dared not to look at Flak whose expression was chiselled from stone as he slowly dropped his arms and pointedly placed himself at Sandy's side.

The two scavengers now packed their stuff and got their things together without further conversation, but as they were about to leave, Flak leaned over Sandy, pulled her close and kissed the everliving fuck out of her. Slinging her arms around his neck Sandy inwardly smiled; typical for him that the first and only time he kissed her in public was just to make a fucking point.

When Flak leaned back he just gave her a look under half-lowered lids, the way he always did, and as always, Sandy's stomach lurched when he did that. Crossing her arms with a tiny smile Sandy took a step back and placed herself right between Shrapnel and Flak with a slowly calming heartbeat.

Max shook his head again and, after looking wistfully at Sandy for a moment, said to Shrapnel: "Man, if I was you I'd be jealous as hell."  
>Shrapnel lifted his eyebrows. "Yeah?" He looked down at Sandy and Sandy looked up at him, then back at Max while she moved closer to Shrapnel's side and rubbed herself against him like a cat.<br>Max blinked a few times with a ridiculous blush creeping into his face as he stared at Shrapnel squeeze Sandy's ass before adding: "Guess it ain't so bad."  
>Rupert gave Max a clout on the back of his head. "Stop staring, stupid fuckwit, or one of them'll bite your head off."<br>Max turned around. "I just..."  
>Taking a hold of his sleeve Rupert then dragged him up the stairs. "Come on, junior."<br>Following him with a stumble Max ascended the stairs but had to turn around despite himself when he reached the door. But all he saw now was the two weapon dealers busying themselves with the missile launcher and Sandy standing beside the couch, wiggling her fingers at him in a cocky farewell.

Giggling to herself Sandy turned around again to look at what Flak and Shrapnel were doing. Flak had already dug a few tools out of a crate and was eyeballing the missile launcher as if daring the fucker to make a false move before he began to prod it in various places with a screwdriver.  
>Shrapnel scratched his chin. "Think that thing can be opened?"<br>"I think so", was the reply. "The thing has to be maintained, after all." He inserted the screwdriver into a slit and tried to turn it. Shaking his head he abandoned that attempt before he snapped the tool and walked around the weapon again to peek into its muzzle.

Sandy decided she'd be of no help whatsoever here and took the three empty cups over to Gary's for a refill. When she came back into Flak and Shrapnel's stall, she put the cups onto the counter and emitted an angry snort. "Bitch."  
>Flak looked up. "Who?"<br>"Angela." Sandy waved a hand at the cups. "Brought you some coffee, guys."  
>Shrapnel flashed her a smile of thanks. "And what did she say to wind you up like that?"<br>Sandy snorted again. "In so many words, she thinks that three's a crowd. As if that was any of her fucking business."  
>Shrapnel and Flak looked at each other and back at Sandy again.<br>"And you swallowed that?", Flak asked with a doubtful frown.  
>"Well, I told her that I think three's a charm." And then she smiled at them.<p>

Both of them stared at her for a moment before they both simultaneously looked at the missile launcher again. Still smiling to herself Sandy sat down again and watched them fuss over the weapon as if she had never said that last sentence. Bad-ass mercs. She had to bite back a grin.

Flak and Shrapnel in the meantime had been calling the missile launcher on the table a couple of foul names because the switch that was supposed to release the clamps of the barrel was stuck and they couldn't get the missile out. What with the missile stuck that thoroughly there was no danger of a misfire in the marketplace but Sandy still felt a little uncomfortable whenever one of them peeked into the opening of the weapon.

"Shit", Flak finally said. "I think you'd need a special tool to open that fucking thing." He pointed at a small hole. "I can get a screwdriver into it, but I can't turn it around."  
>"Sure it's a screw and not a switch?"<br>Flak tried to slip a finger into it, with no success, the opening was too small. "Not completely."

With a shrug, he then inserted another screwdriver into the slit and told Shrapnel to hold up against the other end of it. He did and Flak then pulled while Shrapnel pulled into the other direction. Nothing happened. Flak took a larger screwdriver and they tried again.

Next thing they knew the screwdriver broke off and because Shrapnel was still keeping the thing in tension the missile launcher snapped around and, with the table having just the right height and it all happening within a split second, hit Shrapnel heads-on right under the belt. With the only sound escaping him a choked huff of breath Shrapnel folded and slowly toppled to his knees before doubling over so deeply that his forehead almost touched the ground.

"Fuck." Flak sucked his grazed knuckles and lowered himself down in front of his friend while Sandy, who had shot up from the couch, came hurrying over. "Buddy?"  
>Sandy put a hand onto his shoulder. " Shrapnel?"<br>"Shrap?" Flak's voice was deeply worried. "Say something, buddy."  
>Without straightening up Shrapnel lifted his head a bit. "Fuck off and let me die in peace", he wheezed.<br>Flak and Sandy exchanged a worried glance. "Shrapnel", Sandy said, "Maybe you should go and see the doc?"  
>"No way I'm gonna let Preston fiddle round with my dick", he replied with a strained voice.<br>"Want me to check..." Sandy began.  
>"Fuck OFF."<p>

Sandy took a step back with her mouth still open, then she looked at Flak who hardly noticeable shook his head. She shut her mouth and watched as Flak helped his friend onto his feet again and, slinging an arm around him, helped him over to the sofa where Shrapnel sat very gingerly down before letting himself fall back so his head was hanging down over the back of the couch. His face was pale, his temples moist and Sandy could see his adam's apple bob when he swallowed.  
>"Shrap...?" She cautiously stepped behind him and looked down in his tight-lipped face, extending a hand to smooth the hair off his forehead.<br>"Get your hands off me, bitch", he snapped at her.  
>Sandy took a faltering step back but at that moment felt Flak take her arm and pull her aside. "Leave him be", he said in low whisper. "He's like that. The worse it is, the fouler he runs off at the mouth. Don't make him say any more he'll regret later on."<p>

With understanding dawning in her eyes Sandy nodded before wrenching her eyes of Shrapnel and looking at Flak instead. He, in turn, looked slightly worried. He still whispered when he asked her: "He really need to see a doc about that?"  
>Sandy replied in a similar low voice. "Probably not. But you know..." she shrugged. "Being a doctor's daughter I've seen a lot of freak accidents happen in my time. Well not the accidents but their consequences, but still..." She looked at Shrapnel again who still hadn't opened his eyes. "But well, I know enough to know that a severe haematoma can cause a block in the blood flow to his... you know." She swallowed and in her face, Flak saw a strange expression as her eyes darted back and forth without looking at anything. She seemed to dig around in her memories. "And in that case I'd have to place a drainage..."<p>

"I heard that, you assholes", Shrapnel spat at them from the couch. "No way I'm letting any bitch near my dick with a fucking needle."

With narrowed eyes, Sandy exchanged a glance with Flak and went on, her voice the slightest bit louder. "Because otherwise the tissue gets damaged resulting in necrosis with the only option left amputation."  
>Shrapnel froze. Flak in turn looked at her as if she'd been telling him she had had entrails on toast for breakfast but rallied himself after a few seconds and took a deep breath. "Jesus", he said. "How long has he got left?"<br>Sandy shrugged, aware that from the corner of her eyes she could see Shrapnel slowly lift his head and stare at her. "One, two hours, max. The sooner the treatment starts, however, the higher the chances are of injured area remaining fully functional." She left this deliberately vague and heard Shrapnel shift his weight. She hardly dared to look at Flak again who, while calling a perfect poker face his own, still could hardly suppress a twitch of his lips.

"Fine", Shrapnel snarled. "Fine! All right! Have your way with me, you..."  
>"Shrap." Flak forestalled whatever insult he had meant to say and walked around the couch to give him a hand up. "Just get it over with."<br>With a snort Shrapnel took the offered hand and stood up with a wince and a shake of his head.  
>"Bastard got you good and proper, huh?"<br>"Yeah."

Flak watched him limp up the stairs with Sandy in tow and shook his head before he lit up a smoke and revelled for a second in the unfair and selfish feeling of relief that it hadn't been him.

After reaching the cabin Sandy closed the door behind her and turned around to find Shrapnel already with his trousers down. "Go on", he snapped. "Have it over with."  
>"Shrap..." she said softly.<br>"Just get it the fuck over with!"

Shaking her head Sandy knelt down before him as he crossed his arms and stared at the ceiling. He reminded her of a wounded animal, all bared teeth and snarls to cover up the vulnerability of being injured and considering what kind of man he was, she came to think of it as probably not being that far off the mark. Trying to switch off a certain part of her brain and falling back onto her medical training she still felt a little awkward to touch him that way. Shrapnel himself didn't move a muscle the whole time.

"It's a good thing you're wearing leather trousers", Sandy said when she got up. "If that's going to leave a bruise it's only going to be a light one."  
>After taking a deep breath Shrapnel bend down to pull up his pants. Buckling his belt he finally looked at her again. "You were just shitting me, weren't you?"<br>"Yes and no", Sandy replied. "I wasn't lying about the necrosis, but I was fairly sure it wasn't bad enough for that. I just really wanted to make sure."  
>"Hhm." He looked away again, first at the ceiling, then at his feet and finally at the wall beside him. "Sandy..." he ventured, but Sandy knew what he wanted to say. She took his hand.<br>"It's all right."  
>"No." He looked unhappily at her.<br>"Yes", Sandy gave back.  
>"No, it's not. Sorry for calling you a bitch."<br>Sandy smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "Apology accepted."  
>Shrapnel looked down at her for a very long time before his lips twitched. "Jesus, Sandy is there any quirk of our personalities you can't deal with?"<br>Sandy chuckled. "I haven't found one yet."  
>He shook his head with a small smile and, still walking a little cautiously, took her hand and they made their way back to the marketplace.<p>

Flak was still staring at the weapon when they returned to the stall and he neither looked at Shrapnel nor asked him awkward questions regarding his performance. Heading for the couch Shrapnel was reminded yet again of why Flak was his best bud for life.

When Shrapnel had lowered himself onto the couch again Flak said silently down beside him, offered him a smoke and fire, then he lit his own and leaned back. Sharing a silent smoke they became aware of Sandy watching them and Flak lifted his eyebrows while Shrapnel inhaled deeply and blew a slow cloud with the tiniest of smiles.

Sandy in turn smiled at them for a moment, a deliberately sweet and besotted smile, just to see them falter ever so slightly before resuming their expressionless stare while smoking. She watched them a bit longer until suddenly, as usual in these situations in unspoken agreement, both men looked at her; and while Flak gave her one of his stares under lowered lids Shrapnel smirked at her with a wink. Her heart stumbled and picked up speed, but for once she made no effort to hide it. And just to see how far she could go she then put a finger to her lips and gave the counter beside her a very long, very considering stare, eyes half closed and chewing her lower lip, before looking at her men again with a wistful little sigh.

Cigarette half-way to his lips Shrapnel froze for a second and Flak beside him crossed his arms while leaning back, his cigarette clamped into the corner of his mouth. They would have been lying had they said they weren't painfully aware of what Sandy was thinking. And since they had only recently learned that a naked girl and a gun went together pretty well, the images Sandy's little gestures had summoned in their minds, consisting of her in various states of undress and a counter littered with guns, would have cost them many a good nights' sleep if it hadn't been for the fact that firstly, Sandy was theirs good and proper and secondly, they owned those guns and could pretty much do with those as they pleased.

And when Sandy now watched their expressions change ever so slightly she decided at that moment that she would try to talk to Harkness, and maybe see if she couldn't badger a key to the marketplace out of him, in return for the favour she had done him, like. Or something. The vision of what her getting the key could lead to made her heart pick up speed again but she turned around at that point before anyone else around them could pick up on their little game.

Having finished his smoke Flak got up again and walked over to the counter to stare at the fucking missile launcher again in mild frustration.

Sandy looked at the weapon on the table and at Flak who was eyeing it. "Think you've been at the bad end of a deal?"  
>Flak looked up. "I'll not say that quite yet." He then cast a look at Shrapnel who crossed his arms.<br>"I'm not touching the fucker again today", Shrapnel said.  
>Sandy watched as Flak tried again to insert several different tools into the opening where he believed the release mechanism to be. With a frown she leaned forward and tilted her head. "May I?"<br>"Sure." Flak stood back and lit a cigarette while watching Sandy peek into the little hole that had given him and Shrapnel both so much trouble. His jaw pretty much dropped when Sandy then slid her little finger into the slit; and after she wriggled it further in a release switch snapped and the barrel neatly fell apart in two half-pipes with the missile tumbling out and onto the table. "Fuck."  
>Sandy leaned back again and crossed her arms with a smug little smile. "I guess brute force isn't always the solution."<p>

Flak couldn't find anything to say to this, but when he cautiously looked at Shrapnel he found his friend glare back at him with a stare that would have felled a lesser man.


End file.
